Abstract
The main objective of the paper is to develop a new method to estimate the maximum magnitude (
M
max
) considering the regional rupture character. The proposed method has been explained in detail and examined for both intraplate and active regions. Seismotectonic data has been collected for both the regions, and seismic study area (SSA) map was generated for radii of 150, 300, and 500 km. The regional rupture character was established by considering percentage fault rupture (PFR), which is the ratio of subsurface rupture length (RLD) to total fault length (TFL). PFR is used to arrive RLD and is further used for the estimation of maximum magnitude for each seismic source. Maximum magnitude for both the regions was estimated and compared with the existing methods for determining
M
max
values. The proposed method gives similar
M
max
value irrespective of SSA radius and seismicity. Further seismicity parameters such as magnitude of completeness (
M
c
), “
a
” and “
b
” parameters and maximum observed magnitude (
M
max
obs
) were determined for each SSA and used to estimate
M
max
by considering all the existing methods. It is observed from the study that existing deterministic and probabilistic
M
max
estimation methods are sensitive to SSA radius,
M
c
,
a
and
b
parameters and
M
max
obs
values. However,
M
max
determined from the proposed method is a function of rupture character instead of the seismicity parameters. It was also observed that intraplate region has less PFR when compared to active seismic region.