Fault Segmentation, Paleostress and Paleoseismic Investigation in the Dodoma Area, Tanzania: Implications for Seismic Hazard Evaluation

摘要

The Dodoma area (Tanzania) lies within the Tanzanian craton, in a region where the eastern branch of the East African Rift System seems to die out (or propagate?) into the craton. The area is characterized by low- to moderate-magnitude seismic activity, sometimes concentrated into so-called “earthquake swarms”, but also by rare large earthquakes (up to Mw = 6.2). On 4 November 2002, an earthquake of Mw ~ 5.5 struck the region during a session of the Tanzanian Parliament in Dodoma, causing cracks in the Parliament building. This seismic event raised the awareness of a large proportion of the Tanzanian society on geo-hazards. This research is a response to that awareness.