- journal_title：Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
- Contributor：Arun Singh ; M. Ravi Kumar ; D. Srinagesh
- Publisher：Seismological Society of America
- Date：2013-02-01
- Format：text/html
- Language：en
- Identifier：10.1785/0120120112
- journal_abbrev：Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
- issn：0037-1106
- volume：103
- issue：1
- firstpage：317
- section：Articles
In this paper we investigate the near‐surface shear velocities beneath 144 broadband seismic stations of India that span diverse geological terrains, using nearly 37,635 good quality (SNR≥2.5) three‐component waveforms from 3849 earthquakes. The results suggest lower shear velocities beneath regions of large sedimentation, with the lowest in the range of ∼1 km/s observed for the Indo‐Gangetic plains. These low velocity estimates show a dependence on frequency, implying velocity changes with depth. Segments that represent the Precambrian shield reveal high shear velocities in the range of 3.2 to 3.4 km/s, akin to global observations. The mountain ranges that constitute the Himalaya and southern Tibet have intermediate velocities primarily ranging from 2.8 to 3.0 km/s. Overall, the near‐surface shear velocities seem to be correlated with the local geology and provide inputs for site‐specific hazard assessment in terms of predicting strong ground motions due to scenario earthquakes.