ACTIVE FAULT STUDIES IN AND AROUND MANDI,

HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

Bhabani Shankar Sethi 1, Santiswarup Sahoo 1*, Jitunandan Pradhan 1
1
P. G. Department of Geology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar,751004
* Corresponding author

ABSTRACT
Our study is focused in and around Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, which is a part of the

meizoseismal zone of 1905 Kangra earthquake (Mw 7.8). A new active strike-slip

fault has been identified from the interpretation of high-resolution CORONA satellite

data (1.8 m). A 20 km long active strike slip fault having dextral movement has been

identified in the vicinity of Mandi. A prominent offset of streams, pressure ridge, and

linear valley was delineated. Offsets of streams were measured from the satellite

image having variations of length from 274m to 833m. The calculation of the slip rate

was done using D\L ratio (Matsuda,1975) and found to be 5.19 mm/year, which

suggests that it is accumulating more strain. Based on the length of the fault, the

magnitude was calculated to be 6.5 Mw using the empirical relationship by Wells and

coppersmith, 1994. The newly identified active strike-slip fault in a thrust regime is a

result of oblique convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates. This

identification will certainly help towards seismic hazard assessment (SHA) of the

region.

Keywords –Active fault, Steam Offsets, River Sinuosity, Slip Rate, Rupture Length,

Earthquake-magnitude.

INTRODUCTION

The Indian subcontinent is more vulnerable to various kinds of natural hazards

such as earthquakes and tsunamis. These catastrophic disasters are posed threat to
mankind. The increasing population at a high rate and very poor understanding leads

to an exponential growth of infrastructure in the last decade which indicates that more

no of the population is seized under highly vulnerable areas. Highly vulnerable area

indicates both near and far-field forms of the shores of natural hazards.

The Himalayas spreads its venue along the northern side of the Indian continent

and stands by the restless giant structure. The structure is a result of the ongoing crustal

collision and the convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates. These mighty

events have made the Himalayas one of the most seismic-active regions in the world.

The most promising large magnitude earthquakes not only shake the restless giant

landmass but also leave its footprints in world scenarios for its vulnerable index. In

the last 100 years, the arc has witnessed several large-magnitude earthquakes. All

these major earthquakes make this region both interesting and dangerous, they are as

follows 1905 Kangra (7.8 Mw),1934 Bihar-Nepal (8.1 Mw),1950 Upper Assam

(8.4Mw) and recent 2005 Muzaffarabad (Mw 7.6) Nepal earthquake of 2015 (Mw 7.8)

(Seeber and Armbruster,1981; Yeats et al.,1997; Ambraseys and Bilham,2000;

Ambraseys and douglas,2004, Yeats and Hussain,2006, Kenda at el.,2008). It is

evident that more than 45% of the Himalayan arc has ruptured during the last 200

years and the remaining undeformed regions are under high seismic risk and

categorized under seismic gaps. These potential areas can trigger large-magnitude

earthquakes in the near future (Bilham et al.,2001). To study properly more about

Seismic Hazard Assessment (SHA) of the seismically active regions identification of

active faults is necessary for it because the active faults are considered the sources of

large magnitude earthquakes in near future and pose a hazard to near-field and far-

field areas (Yeats et al.,1997; McCalpin,1996: Malik et al.,2010).

 figure 1 - Google Earth Pro image showing the extent of the study area .

General Geomorphic Setting

The present study area is part of northwest Himalaya, it is the upper part of the

historical Kangra valley and part of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT). The area lies

between the Main central thrust (MCT) and Himalayan frontal thrust (HFT). It falls in

a part of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) which acts as a transition zone of lesser

Himalayan and higher Himalayan rock. It is the part of north Himalaya having

coordinates between 76.9179E-31.7609N to 76.9115E- 31. 6262N.Mandi is a bowl-

shaped tableland on the banks of the river Beas, surrounded by the high hill ranges of

Gandharv Hills, Motipur Dhar, Rehra Dhar, and Tarna Hill. Geologically, the city is

in seismic Zone No. IV is near a fault line and is prone to earthquakes.

Beas River is the major drainage system in this district, and it bifurcates into two

near Mandi town. The rock formations occupying the district range from the Pre-

Cambrian to the Quaternary period. A major part of the district lies in the lesser
Himalayan region, which presents a rugged mountainous terrain composed of

crystalline, metamorphic, and unfossiliferous sedimentary rocks of the oldest system.

The lithologies vary from the southwestern part consisting of Siwalik sediments with

scarped slopes, a few small intermontane valleys of fluvial systems having younger

alluvial plains, prominent among them is the Sunder Nagar valley south of Mandi

town.

Figure 2: Corona satellite imagery (resolution 1.8m) of the studied region Mandi area, Himachal
Pradesh, NW Himalaya, India.

The dynamics of the Himalayas are not only known for their long-extending

mountain chain but also known for their physiological variation from north to south.

Four major principal tectonic zones play the main role in it; they are higher Himalaya,

lesser Himalaya, sub-Himalaya, and Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) (Nakata,1972; power

et al.,1998). They are as follows (Malik and Mohanty, 2007).

1. Folded mountain range
2. Intermontane valley
3. Sub-Himalayan hill range (Siwalik)
4. Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP)
The main boundary thrust in the south (MBT) and Main Central Thrust (MCT) in the

north are the two major tectonic elements along with the lesser Himalayan domain.

The geology of Lesser Himalaya has been rendered challenging by its characteristic

complexities such as

1. The presence of rocks of a wide spectrum of stratigraphic ranges from Precambrian

to Tertiary.
2. The complex structural juxtaposition of the number of in-sequence thrust sheets.
3. Superposition of several thermal and tectonic events.

Figure 3: Generalized schematic model showing major structural features and physiographic divisions
of the Himalayas (after Jackson and Bilham, 1994; Burbank and Anderson, 2001). IGP –
Indo-Gangetic Plain; HFT-Himalayan Frontal Thrust, MBT-Main Boundary Thrust, MCT-
Main Central Thrust, THF-Trans Himadri Fault. Reference: - Active Fault and Paleoseismic
studies in Kangra Valley, NW Himalaya, (S. Sahoo,2014)

Active faulting in the vicinity of Mandi

Endeavour has been made towards the identification of active fault traces in

and around the Mandi region. In the present study high resolution satellite data i.e.,

corona satellite photos (stereo pair), CartoDEM and Google earth data were used.

These data sets are used towards the identification and measurements. There are

several software such as ArcGIS, and Google earth pro are also used for data sets to

view 3D the terrain model of the desired area with a broader preview. Satellite data

interoperation helps the identification of geomorphic indicators/markers such as linear

 valleys, stream offsets, and triangular forests and helps in calculating the Beas River

sinuosity. This geomorphic indicator implies to words the ongoing active fault

topography in the study area.

Stream offsets

The area selected for research lies near Main Boundary Thrust and the portion

of the Beas River is flowing on this prominent trend. There is the presence of a linear

valley along the river which extends from Kathayana to Bhatwar. The presence of four

sets of stream offsets is found along the fault. They are distributed from Beer to

Bhanwar near about 20 km. The first set of stream offset (S1)is found near Kayathana

and Dhryanaarea. The first offset is found in the northwest direction of Mandi town

having coordinates 31°43’31’’N, 76°55’11’’E in Kathayana and Dharayana area. The

area shows gentle warping of the strata along with triangular facets and a linear valley

shown as a geomorphic indicator. Along the offsets, the Beas is meandering from its

original path and moving towards southwest with depositing sand. The second offset

(S2) is located 1.5 km towards the south direction of offset 1 having coordinates

31°42’46’’N, 76°55’11’’E in the Satohal area. The area shows gentle warping of the

strata along with triangular facets and linear valleys as geomorphic indicators. Along

the offsets, the Beas meanders its original path and moves towards the southwest with

depositing sand. This area clearly shows the deformation. The third offset (S3) is

found at 1.6 km towards the south direction of offset 2 having coordinates

31°42’17’’N, 76°55’03’’E in Lakhwan area. The area shows gentle warping of the

strata along with triangular facets showing a geomorphic indicator. Along the offsets,

the Beas River is bifurcated, and it is part of a linear valley. The fourth offset (S4) is

found 800m west of the third offset showing maximum deformation in the area.
 The Faulting placed and warped the lesser Himalayan sediments, developing Sharp

vertical scarlets facing towards the Beas River. The most prominent deformation

shows along MBT (Main Boundary Thrust) on the bank of Beas River. There are 4

sets of stream offsets are identified in satellite imagery. The fault has a downthrown

side to the west to south-west reassembling the pattern of strike slip faulting.

Figure 4: Corona satellite imagery (resolution 1.8m) of Main Boundary thrust, Mandi region,
Himachal Pradesh, India. Orange arrows indicate the trace of the fault. The
yellow arrow indicates consistent right-lateral offsets of steam drainage
crossing the fault. Note: sharpness of the fault traces, which suggests the recent
activity

Discussion
The offset of strike-slip fault by channel and its preservation involves both the

interaction of erosion and sedimentation (Wallace, 1968). On the other hand, tectonic

movements i.e., Fault displacement and warping or tilting processes are part of
catastrophic and relatively continuous. The rates of the two sets of processes are, in

general of the same order of magnitude; for example, fault slips are measured in

meters in the same period that channel erosion or sedimentation is measured in meters.

(Wallace,1968).

The main aim of the present study is to determine the rate and the nature of the

movements. Straight channels have formally crossed the fault are shown in the (figure-

8) and it experienced no vertical movement. The streams flow in their original straight

path before the movement. After the movement has progressed the stream deviates

from its original path .and other channels are brought into this alignment (Wallace,

1968). As a result, the stream flows right to the adjacent.

Based on the stream offsets, an attempt has been made to calculate the slip rate

of the fault. A relationship between long-term slip rate (S) along with a lateral slip of

fault and offset ratio (a = D/L) has been roughly calculated as S (m/1000 years), i.e.,

10 a (Matsuda, 1975). Off-set ratio (a = D/L), where D is the amount of stream offset

along the fault and L is the upstream length of the displaced stream (Matsuda, 1966).

After the 3D terrain visualisation of corona satellite data with the help of a

mirror stereoscope the offsets are marked, and the same offsets are identified in

Google Earth (Figure- 8). The upstream and offset lengths are measured, and the offset

and upstream Ratios are calculated along with slip rate. The ratio is plotted in

logarithmic scale through MS Excel.

 Figure 10: CartoDEM of Main Boundary thrust, Mandi region, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Yellow arrows indicate the trace of the fault. Consistent right-lateral offsets of
steam drainage crossing the fault (S1, S2, S3, S4). Note: sharpness of the fault
traces, which suggests the recent activity .
Table 3: Calculation of slip rate with help of amounts of stream offset along the fault and
upstream length from the fault trace.

Sl No L (Upstream D D/L Mean 10a=slip rate

Length) (Offset (mm)
length)
S1 1257 833 0.7024 0.5191 5.19
S2 948 746 0.7869
S3 1817 392 0.2157
S4 738 274 0.3712
1000
y = 0.3778x
R² = 0.7263
OFFSET (D)

100
100 1000
UPSTREAM LENGTH (L)

Figure 11: Relationship between amounts of stream offset along the fault and upstream
length from the fault trace.

Calculation Of Magnitude

From the given (Wells, D. L., Coppersmith, K. J., 1994) formula for calculation

of magnitude all around the world given by

M = 5.08 + 1 .1 6*1og (SRL)

 where M is the moment magnitude

SRL is surface rapture length.

In our study area, the length of the fault is nearly equal to 20 KM.

M= 5.08 + 1 .1 6*1og (20)

=5.08+1.508=6.58 Mw

Conclusions

Our investigation enlightened towards the identification of active fault in a

thickly populated area such as Mandi. The identification of geomorphic indicators

evidence and identification of stream offsets indicating towards the activeness of the

area. A 20 Kilometre dextral active strike slip is identified in the Mandi area. The

presence of a strike slip fault in a thrust region envisages that there is a slip

partitioning among thrust and strike slip faults resulting due to oblique convergence

between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

From the presence of a 20 Kilometre dextral active strike slip identified in the

Mandi area, we calculated magnitude using a formula which universally accepted for

strike slip faulting (Wells, D. L., Coppersmith, K. J., 1994), which will be a great help

towards the seismic hazard assessment of thickly populated area like Mandi. The

estimated slip rate using the D/L ratio (Matsuda, 1975) suggests that the area is

accumulating more strain which may experience a large magnitude earthquake in the

near future.

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