Determination of earthquake loading and seismic performance in intraplate regions

Major intraplate earthquakes are rare, however, their occurrence is often unpredictable and can result in high consequences in terms of both life-safety and economic loss. Consequently, the issue of intraplate seismic hazard is attracting increasing attention from the world community. It is important that the overall process of modelling earthquake-induced loads is well understood by structural engineers who are professionally responsible and accountable for the performance of the structure and for life-safety. The modelling for seismic hazard in regions of low and moderate seismicity is difficult and challenging, owing to the paucity of earthquake data in these regions. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the seismic hazard analysis procedure for regions of low to moderate seismicity to a wide engineering readership. The review covers topics ranging from the modelling of seismic activity, the attenuation of seismic waves and site amplification to the representation of seismic loading for design purposes. Basic concepts that are widely known within the earthquake engineering profession are introduced for the benefit of readers who do not possess specialized knowledge in this field. Further, the latest techniques that have been developed to overcome the challenges associated with the paucity of data in regions of low to moderate seismicity are described