Simulation of Strong Ground Motion of the 2009 Bhutan Earthquake Using Modified Semi-Empirical Technique

On 21st September 2009 an earthquake of magnitude ( M w 6.1) occurred in the East Bhutan. This earthquake caused serious damage to the residential area and was widely felt in the Bhutan Himalaya and its adjoining area. We estimated the source model of this earthquake using modified semi empirical technique. In the rupture plane, several locations of nucleation point have been considered and finalised based on the minimum root mean square error of waveform comparison. In the present work observed and simulated waveforms has been compared at all the eight stations. Comparison of horizontal components of actual and simulated records at these stations confirms the estimated parameters of final rupture model and efficacy of the modified semi-empirical technique (Joshi et al., Nat Hazards 64:1029–1054, 2012b ) of strong ground motion simulation.