Bulletin--KGS

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Abstract

The exposure of homes, infrastructure, and critical facilities in western Kentucky, including the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), to potential strong seismic shaking from the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) has been a major impetus for decades of effort to characterize seismic hazards by the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS). The purpose of this report is to provide 1) a summary of the earthquake hazards that affect Kentucky and KGS’s ongoing earthquake research, including seismic monitoring, 2) background on the types of seismic hazards in general and how they are quantified in seismic hazard assessments, including strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches, 3) an overview of the relationship between seismic hazard and seismic risk and of the related mitigation policies as they have evolved alongside the National Seismic Hazard Maps, and 4) a concise history of KGS’s efforts to produce seismic hazard estimates appropriate for Kentucky and a synopsis of the policies that have been informed by these estimates.

Publication Date

2024

Series

13

Issue Number

1

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.13023/kgs.bn.13.1

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