PREPARE: Enhancing PREParedness for East African Countries through Seismic Resilience Engineering

Lead Research Organisation: University of Bristol
Department Name: Civil Engineering

Abstract

PREPARE develops a holistic seismic risk management framework for East Africa and co-produces practical tools and guidelines for enhanced disaster preparedness in close partnerships with local governmental and academic institutions. It aims at overcoming existing barriers to designing seismically resilient infrastructure in least developed countries using advanced risk assessments and suitable low-cost engineering solutions. The first case study focuses on Malawi and then extends to other East African countries. PREPARE is problem-led; actual needs have been identified and informed by local partners. The proposal spans the Schools of Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol and Cardiff University, with project partners in Malawi and other East African countries. A major goal of this proposal is to communicate and transfer the body of research to local beneficiaries, allowing for community-based emergency responses and ensuring documentable impacts.
PREPARE is composed of four work packages (WPs): WP1 - Development of integrated seismic impact assessment tools for Malawi; WP2 - Tectonic investigations of strain accumulation and release in the Malawi Rift system; WP3 - Seismic vulnerability assessment of Malawian masonry buildings; and WP4 - Expansion of the framework to other East African countries. The aims of WP1 are: to implement a comprehensive earthquake risk impact assessment methodology, with versatile capabilities to update the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability modules, to extend the method by accounting for other earthquake-induced hazards, such as liquefaction and landslide; and to produce seismic hazard-risk outcomes in the form of hazard-risk maps, site-specific seismic design spectra, and seismic design guidelines. The main goal of WP2 is to provide more accurate information regarding the potential earthquake rupture characteristics of the fault systems in Malawi (i.e. location, length and recurrence interval of large earthquakes). The results will be integrated into WP1. WP2-1 will focus on updating the fault map of Malawi, studying how fault segments interact and their relationship to geological fabrics. WP2-2 will focus on mapping the strain using satellite- and ground-based geodetic methods to identify which structures are active and the rate and depth of strain accumulation across them. The main goal of WP3 is to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of Malawian buildings through numerical analyses, supported by experimental data. In WP3-1, surveys will be conducted to gather building information in Malawi. WP3-2 will focus on testing of local bricks and brick wall structures in Malawi, whereas WP3-3 will focus on developing numerical models of typical masonry buildings in Malawi and corresponding seismic fragility models for assessing the earthquake risk (WP1). The primary goals of WP4 are to develop a strain-based seismic hazard model for East Africa, which is quite innovative, and to carry out seismic hazard-risk assessments for East African countries (using the updated tools from WP1).

Planned Impact

PREPARE will promote sound scientific and engineering approaches to understanding earthquake hazard and vulnerability in East Africa, aiming to build more resilient communities and expand local capacity to deal with disasters. The project will lay the foundation for integrating seismic hazard and risk into policies for long-term infrastructure development and short-term emergency management. Beginning with work in Malawi, the long-term aim of PREPARE is to provide a framework for seismic resilience throughout East Africa. The impact plan has been developed based on close discussions with local project partners. The key project partners are: University of Malawi Polytechnic, Geological Survey Department, Malawi Bureau of Standards, Malawi University of Science and Technology, University of Malawi Chancellors College, University of Cape Town, and The Eastern and Southern African Seismic Working Group.
During the 3-year project period, the following main activities are planned: (Activity1) two 5-day international workshops (summer 2017 and 2019; WP1&4), (Activity2) six field trips in Malawi and Ethiopia/Eritrea over the 3-year period (WP2), (Activity3) testing of local bricks and real-size wall structures at the University of Malawi Polytechnic (summer 2017 and 2018; WP3), (Activity4) 4-week research stay at Bristol by local partners (6 researchers in total; WP1 to WP4), (Activity5) open-source computational tool development for earthquake impact assessment, and (Activity6) academic publishing. All these activities are to promote the collaboration, co-learning, and co-production and to make a real impact in improving the disaster preparedness of communities in Malawi and other East African countries.
The main objectives of the international workshops (Activity1) are to bring together a broad cross-section of stakeholders and with significant training elements. During the workshops, the UK investigators and East African partners will work together to share the latest research results and outcomes from the project and to co-develop and coordinate future plans of the project activities. In particular, to improve seismic resilience in Malawi and other East African countries, joint training sessions on topics that are most relevant for the local partners will be held. The main objectives of the field trips in Malawi and Ethiopia/Eritrea (Activity2) are to gather geological, geodetic, and seismological data for WP2 and training junior scientists from local partners for fieldwork. The testing at the University of Malawi Polytechnic's structural lab facility (Activity3) will introduce the state-of-the-art methods (e.g. a video tracking system for measuring the deformation) to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of local masonry structures in Malawi. This will improve the local capacity on structural testing in Malawi, which is critically lacking at the moment. The partners' visit and stay at Bristol (Activity4) will consolidate long-term relationships with local partners in East Africa and facilitates the knowledge transfer from the UK to developing countries. The development of open-source/free tools for earthquake impact assessment (Activity5), such as GNU-Octave-based earthquake risk assessment platform and OpenSees-based finite-element structural models will improve the technical capacity of the local partners. Finally, the outcomes of the PREPARE project will be disseminated through open-access journal publications with publicly accessible research data as well as presentations at international conferences and meetings (Activity6). These processes will involve local partners so that their academic records will be strengthened.

Publications

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Cross T (2020) Mapping the seismic safety of RC "template schools" in Nepal in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

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Fagereng Å (2024) Metamorphic Inheritance, Lower-Crustal Earthquakes, and Continental Rifting in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

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Gilder C (2022) Geostatistical Framework for Estimation of VS30 in Data-Scarce Regions in Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

 
Description 1. Faults in the Southern Malawi Rift have likely each formed through multiple seismic events, but even so, large-magnitude (M 7-8) earthquakes are possible in Malawi.
2. Several additional active faults have been discovered in Southern Malawi.
3. Construction materials and methods for housing in Malawi have changed rapidly over the last decade. Unreinforced masonry houses made of fired clay bricks are now prevalent. Due to low quality materials and construction practices, the seismic vulnerability of the housing stock is high.
4. The seismic fragility of unreinforced masonry houses in Malawi has been quantified based on extensive structural surveys of buildings and laboratory tests of materials and masonry panels.
5. A scenario-based earthquake impact assessment tool has been developed, using improved information on possible earthquake sources, local building characteristics, and seismic vulnerability functions. The tool can generate the probability distributions of the important exposure and risk metrics for seismic risk management purposes.
Exploitation Route The findings to date and further ongoing research under the grant will lead to updated seismic hazard and risk maps for Malawi. It is hoped that the findings will be used by Malawian government departments and other stakeholders for planning, construction guidance/regulation and disaster risk management and that the methodologies developed will be used in other countries in the wider East African Rift region.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy

Construction

 
Description A new earthquake ground-motion model for Malawi, EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account, Early Career Researcher
Amount £2,999 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 01/2022
 
Description An active fault database for Uganda, Cardiff University GCRF Impact Acceleration Account
Amount £13,687 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2019 
End 07/2019
 
Description Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa
Amount £809,141 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T015462/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2019 
End 03/2022
 
Description PREPARE_Malawi_Impact. Impact Acceleration Account, Exploratory Award
Amount £13,972 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2019 
End 11/2019
 
Description PREPARE_Uganda, Cardiff University GCRF Facilitation Grant
Amount £8,950 (GBP)
Organisation United Kingdom Research and Innovation 
Department Global Challenges Research Fund
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2019 
End 07/2019
 
Description PREPARE_Uganda, University of Bristol QR GCRF
Amount £34,200 (GBP)
Organisation United Kingdom Research and Innovation 
Department Research England
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2019 
End 07/2019
 
Description Seismic risk mitigation for East African Countries. Case study: Salima, Malawi, EEFIT 2018 Research Grant Scheme
Amount £1,500 (GBP)
Organisation Institution of Structural Engineers 
Department Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2018 
End 10/2019
 
Title Bilila-Mtakataka Fault - Kasinje Segment Point Cloud Data 
Description A Point cloud dataset derived from Pleiades Bi-Stereo Imagery of the Kasinje segment of the Bilila-Mtakataka Fault in southern Malawi. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This data has contributed to the following publications: Hodge, M., Biggs, J., Fagereng, A., Elliot, A., Mdala, H., Mphepo, F. (2019). A semi-automated algorithm to quantify scarp morphology (SPARTA): application to normal faults in southern Malawi. Solid Earth, 10, 27-57. doi.org/10/5194/se-10-27-2019 Hodge, M., Biggs, J., Fagereng, A., Mdala, H., Wedmore, L., Williams, J. Evidence from high resolution topography for multiple earthquakes on high slip-to-length fault scarps: the Bilila-Mtakataka fault, Malawi. In Preparation for Tectonics. 
URL https://portal.opentopography.org/dataspace/dataset?opentopoID=OTDS.062019.32736.1
 
Title Bilila-Mtakataka Fault - Mua Segment Point Cloud Data 
Description A Point cloud dataset derived from Pleiades Bi-Stereo Imagery of the Kasinje segment of the Bilila-Mtakataka Fault in southern Malawi. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This data has contributed to the following publications: Hodge, M., Biggs, J., Fagereng, A., Elliot, A., Mdala, H., Mphepo, F. (2019). A semi-automated algorithm to quantify scarp morphology (SPARTA): application to normal faults in southern Malawi. Solid Earth, 10, 27-57. doi.org/10/5194/se-10-27-2019 Hodge, M., Biggs, J., Fagereng, A., Mdala, H., Wedmore, L., Williams, J. Evidence from high resolution topography for multiple earthquakes on high slip-to-length fault scarps: the Bilila-Mtakataka fault, Malawi. In Preparation for Tectonics. 
URL https://portal.opentopography.org/dataspace/dataset?opentopoID=OTDS.062019.32736.2
 
Title Dataset_Kafodya et al._JOBE_2019 
Description This dataset contains all the information to reproduce the curves and figures in the JOBE 2019 journal publication titled: "Role of fiber inclusion in adobe masonry construction", by Kafodya, I., Okonta F. and Kloukinas, P. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Dataset_Kloukinas et al._JHBE_2019 
Description This dataset contains all the information to reproduce the curves and figures in the JHBE 2019 journal publication titled: "A Building Classification Scheme of Housing Stock in Malawi for Earthquake Risk Assessment", by Kloukinas, P., Novelli, V, Kafodya, I., Ngoma, I., Macdonald J. and Goda K. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Dataset_Kloukinas et al._SEMC2019 
Description This dataset contains all the information to reproduce the curves and figures in the SEMC2019 conference publication titled: "Strength of materials and masonry structures in Malawi", by Kloukinas, P., Kafodya, I., Ngoma, I., Novelli, V., Macdonald J. and Goda K. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Fault scarp and structural measurements along the Thyolo Fault, southern Malawi 
Description Measurements of fault scarp height, topographic profiles used to measure fault scarp and metamorphic foliation measurements along the Thyolo Fualt, southern Malawi. This dataset is used in Wedmore et al., (in review), Journal of Structural Geology. For more information please contact luke.wedmore@bristol.ac.uk 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/3821351
 
Title Fault-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in regions with low strain rates and a thick seismogenic layer: a case study from Malawi. Supplementary Files 
Description First release of supplementary files for running probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) MATLAB codes for Malawi as uploaded to Github at: https://github.com/jack-williams1/Malawi_PSHA Includes both input files for performing PSHA and output ground motions for plotting PSHA results. Files are: malawi_Vs30_active.txt: Input USGS slope-based Vs30 values for Malawi (Wald and Allen 2007) EQCAT_comb.mat: MSSD Direct catalog for all possible rupture weightings (stored as MATLAB variable) GM_MSSD_em_20220302: Ground motions for plotting PSHA maps (stored as MATLAB variable) GM_MSSD_em_20220302.mat: Ground motions needed for plotting PSHA-site analysis figures (stored as MATLAB variable) mssd_comb.mat: Matlab file for combined MSSD Direct and Adapted MSSD catalogs (stored as MATLAB variable) MSSD_Catalog_Adapted_em.mat: Adapated MSSD event catalog (stored as MATLAB variable) syncat_bg.mat: Areal source stochastic event catalog (stored as MATLAB variable) Further descriptions of these files and how to use them are provided on Github. The PSHA is described in: Williams, J. N., Werner, M. J., Goda. K., Wedmore, L. N., De Risi R., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Fagereng, Å., Chindandali, P., Mphepo, F. (2022) Fault-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in regions with low strain rates and a thick seismogenic layer: a case study from Malawi. Submitted to Natural Hazards Please reference this publication along with this repository when using these data. When appropriate, we will update the citation to the manuscript. USGS vs30 value compilation described in: Allen, T. I., and Wald, D. J., 2009, On the use of high-resolution topographic data as a proxy for seismic site conditions (Vs30), Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 99, no. 2A, 935-943. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This database is used as input for the routines provided at the link https://github.com/jack-williams1/Malawi_PSHA. Also, this database is used for a submitted paper on PSHA including the new fault database. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6350793
 
Title Footwall Relief Measurements for faults in the Zomba Graben, Malawi 
Description Footwall releif measurements for faults in the Zomba Graben Malawi. Footwall relief was measured every 1 km along strike using stacked profiles of TanDEM-X topographic data that had been sampled every 100 m along strike. We measured the difference in elevation between the highest point on the footwall within 3 km of the fault surface trace, and the elevation of the fault itself. #1 - Longitude #2 - Latitude #3 - Footwall Relief (m) #4 - Uncertainty (m) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/7297009
 
Title Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database v1.0 
Description First release of the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database for the submission of a manuscript to EGU Solid Earth. Active fault database for the Luangwa Rift, Zambia compiled by Tess Turner, Luke Wedmore and Juliet Biggs at University of Bristol. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD) is a freely available open-source geospatial database of active fault traces within the Luangwa Rift, Zambia. The active fault database has been designed and released in line with the Global Earthquake Model standards. Full details of the criteria used to assess activity will be released in a publication that is currently in preparation. Citation Please cite the latest release of this database on Zenodo in addition to the following manuscript: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. _Submitted to EGU Solid Earth_ Data Format The LRAFD is a geospatial database containing a collection of active fault traces in GIS vector format. Each fault is mapped as a single continuous GIS feature, and has associated metadata that describe the geometry of the fault and various aspects of its exposure and the methodology used to map the fault. The list below describes the attributes within the LRAFD. These attributes are based on the Global Earthquake Model Global Active Faults Database (GEM-GAFD; Styron and Pagani, 2020). Note, we do not currently include all attributes from the GEM-GAFD as these data have not been collected in the Luangwa Rift. It is the intention that future versions of this database will include more attributes. No assessment is made of the seismogenic properties of the faults in the LRAFD as this is subjective. These data have been compiled in the publication associated with this database. Data Table Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database Attributes Attribute Data Type Description Notes LRAFD_ID integer Unique Fault IDentification number assigned to each fault trace Fault_Name string Name of Fault Assigned using local geographic features or towns Dip_Direction string Compass quadrant of fault dip direction slip_type string kinematic type of fault e.g. normal, reverse, sinistral-strike slip, dextral-strike slip Fault_Length decimal Straight line distance between the tips of the fault GeomorphicExpression string Geomorphic feature/features used to identify the fault trace and its extent e.g. escarpment, fault scarp, offset sedimentary feature Method string DEM or geologic dataset used to identify and map the fault trace e.g. digital elevation model hillshade, slope map Confidence integer Confidence of recent (Quaternary) activity Ranges from 1-4, 1 if high certainty, 4 if low certainty ExposureQuality integer Fault exposure quality 1 if high, 2 if low EpistemicQuality integer Certainty of whether a fault exists there 1 if high, 2 if low Accuracy integer Coarsest scale at which fault trace can be mapped, expressed as the denominator of the map scale reflects the prominence of the fault's geomorphic expression GeologicalMapExpression string extent of correlation between fault traces and legacy geological map whether faults have been previously mapped and/or follow geological contacts Notes string Any additional or relevant information regarding the fault References string Relevant literature/geological maps where the fault is mentioned/described File Formats Following the GEM-GAFD, this database is provided in a variety of GIS vector file formats. GeoJSON is the version of record, and any changes should be made in this version, before they are converted to other filed formats using the convert.sh shell script available in this repository. This script uses the GDAL tool ogr2ogr and is adapted from a script posted by Richard Styron (https://github.com/cossatot/central_am_carib_faults/blob/master/convert.sh), who we thank for making this publicly available. The other versions available are ESRI Shapefile, KML, GMT and Geopackage. Note that in the ESRI Shapefile format, the length of the attribute are restricted in length by the format, so we advise against using this format. Version Control This version of the database is v1.0 and is associated with the release of the data for submission of the associated manuscript. It is intended that this database is updated in future versions by both the authors and other users. As such we encourage edits of the [GeoJSON] file and the submission of pull requests on the associated github site. Please contact Luke Wedmore () for information or to report errors in the database. References Styron, Richard, and Marco Pagani. "The GEM Global Active Faults Database." Earthquake Spectra, vol. 36, no. 1_suppl, Oct. 2020, pp. 160-180, doi:10.1177/8755293020944182. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Active fault database for the Luangwa Rift, Zambia compiled by Tess Turner, Luke Wedmore and Juliet Biggs at University of Bristol. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD) is a freely available open-source geospatial database of active fault traces within the Luangwa Rift, Zambia. The active fault database has been designed and released in line with the Global Earthquake Model standards. Full details of the criteria used to assess activity will be released in a publication that is currently in preparation. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513691
 
Title Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database v1.0 
Description First release of the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database for the submission of a manuscript to EGU Solid Earth. Active fault database for the Luangwa Rift, Zambia compiled by Tess Turner, Luke Wedmore and Juliet Biggs at University of Bristol. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD) is a freely available open-source geospatial database of active fault traces within the Luangwa Rift, Zambia. The active fault database has been designed and released in line with the Global Earthquake Model standards. Full details of the criteria used to assess activity will be released in a publication that is currently in preparation. Citation Please cite the latest release of this database on Zenodo in addition to the following manuscript: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. _Submitted to EGU Solid Earth_ Data Format The LRAFD is a geospatial database containing a collection of active fault traces in GIS vector format. Each fault is mapped as a single continuous GIS feature, and has associated metadata that describe the geometry of the fault and various aspects of its exposure and the methodology used to map the fault. The list below describes the attributes within the LRAFD. These attributes are based on the Global Earthquake Model Global Active Faults Database (GEM-GAFD; Styron and Pagani, 2020). Note, we do not currently include all attributes from the GEM-GAFD as these data have not been collected in the Luangwa Rift. It is the intention that future versions of this database will include more attributes. No assessment is made of the seismogenic properties of the faults in the LRAFD as this is subjective. These data have been compiled in the publication associated with this database. Data Table Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database Attributes Attribute Data Type Description Notes LRAFD_ID integer Unique Fault IDentification number assigned to each fault trace Fault_Name string Name of Fault Assigned using local geographic features or towns Dip_Direction string Compass quadrant of fault dip direction slip_type string kinematic type of fault e.g. normal, reverse, sinistral-strike slip, dextral-strike slip Fault_Length decimal Straight line distance between the tips of the fault GeomorphicExpression string Geomorphic feature/features used to identify the fault trace and its extent e.g. escarpment, fault scarp, offset sedimentary feature Method string DEM or geologic dataset used to identify and map the fault trace e.g. digital elevation model hillshade, slope map Confidence integer Confidence of recent (Quaternary) activity Ranges from 1-4, 1 if high certainty, 4 if low certainty ExposureQuality integer Fault exposure quality 1 if high, 2 if low EpistemicQuality integer Certainty of whether a fault exists there 1 if high, 2 if low Accuracy integer Coarsest scale at which fault trace can be mapped, expressed as the denominator of the map scale reflects the prominence of the fault's geomorphic expression GeologicalMapExpression string extent of correlation between fault traces and legacy geological map whether faults have been previously mapped and/or follow geological contacts Notes string Any additional or relevant information regarding the fault References string Relevant literature/geological maps where the fault is mentioned/described File Formats Following the GEM-GAFD, this database is provided in a variety of GIS vector file formats. GeoJSON is the version of record, and any changes should be made in this version, before they are converted to other filed formats using the convert.sh shell script available in this repository. This script uses the GDAL tool ogr2ogr and is adapted from a script posted by Richard Styron (https://github.com/cossatot/central_am_carib_faults/blob/master/convert.sh), who we thank for making this publicly available. The other versions available are ESRI Shapefile, KML, GMT and Geopackage. Note that in the ESRI Shapefile format, the length of the attribute are restricted in length by the format, so we advise against using this format. Version Control This version of the database is v1.0 and is associated with the release of the data for submission of the associated manuscript. It is intended that this database is updated in future versions by both the authors and other users. As such we encourage edits of the [GeoJSON] file and the submission of pull requests on the associated github site. Please contact Luke Wedmore () for information or to report errors in the database. References Styron, Richard, and Marco Pagani. "The GEM Global Active Faults Database." Earthquake Spectra, vol. 36, no. 1_suppl, Oct. 2020, pp. 160-180, doi:10.1177/8755293020944182. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513690
 
Title Luangwa Rift Fault Scarp Measurements 
Description First Release associated with submission of article to EGU Solid Earth. Scarp height measurements for faults in the Luangwa Rift performed by Tess Turner for her University of Bristol MSci Earth Sciences final year project. If you use these measurements please cite the following paper in addition to this dataset: Turner, T., Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J., Williams, J. Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C. Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivation along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. In preparation for Solid Earth These measurements were performed on SRTM data using the method outlined in Wedmore et al., 2020. Topographic profiles were sampled event 30 m and stacked at 120 m intervals along strike. Four faults in the Luangwa Rift have been measured using this technique: The Chipola, Chitembo, Kabungo and Molaza faults. The traces of these faults, and all other known active faults in the Luangwa Rift have been separately archived as part of the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database. Data Format Files are provided in comma separated value (csv) format. Each file contains one header line with descriptions of the data contained within each column. The column headings and extra information are summarised in the table below. Where data columns #5-10 are blank, this is because no measurements were possible in the profile corresponding to that particular row number. If columns 11-16 are blank, this is because there are no scarp height measurements within the sampling window of the moving average. Attribute Table Attribute Table for the measurements of scarp height in the Luangwa Rift Column # Attribute Units Data Type Notes 1 Longitude decimal degrees Float 2 Latitude decimal degrees Float 3 Distance Along Fault kilometers Float 4 Distance Along Fault meters Integer 5 Scarp Height meters Float Mean scarp height measurement of 10,000 iterations of scarp height with varying subset of points in the hanging wall, scarp and footwall slopes. 6 Scarp Height Standard Deviation meters Float Standard deviation of 10,000 iterations of meausuring the scarp height with varying subset of points in the hanging wall, scarp and footwall slopes. 7 Upper Slope Angle degrees Float Mean upper slope dip angle of 10,000 iterations of subset of points selected from the footwall slope (above the top of the fault scarp). 8 upper Slope Angle Standard Deviation degrees Float Standard devation of upper slope angle of 10,000 random subsets of the points selected on the upper slope of the fault. 9 Lower Slope Angle degrees Float Mean lower slope dip angle of 10,000 iterations of subset of points selected from the hanging wall slope. 10 lower Slope Angle Standard Deviation degrees Float Standard devation of lower slope angle of 10,000 random subsets of the points selected on the lower slope of the fault. 11 Filtered median offset (1 km) meters Float median scarp height over 1 km of the distance along strike (0.5 km either side of the point). 12 filtered standard deviation (1km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 1 km of the distance along strike (0.5 km either side of the point). 13 Filtered median offset (3 km) meters Float median scarp height over 3 km of the distance along strike (1.5 km either side of the point). 14 filtered standard deviation (3km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 3 km of the distance along strike (1.5 km either side of the point). 15 Filtered median offset (5 km) meters Float median scarp height over 5 km of the distance along strike (2.5 km either side of the point). 16 filtered standard deviation (5km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 5 km of the distance along strike (2.5 km either side of the point). Version Control This release is archived as part of the publication Turner et al. (submitted to EGU Solid Earth). It is intended that this database will be updated in the future as high resolution topography products become available and/or methods for measuring fault scarps improve. Please contact Luke Wedmore for more information or if you spot any errors. References Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J., Williams, J.N., Fagereng, Å., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Mdala, H. (2020) Active Fault Scarps in Southern Malawi and Their Implications for the Distribution of Strain in Incipient Continental Rifts. _Tectonics_, 39(3), e2019TC005834, doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005834 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513544
 
Title Luangwa Rift Fault Scarp Measurements 
Description First Release associated with submission of article to EGU Solid Earth. Scarp height measurements for faults in the Luangwa Rift performed by Tess Turner for her University of Bristol MSci Earth Sciences final year project. If you use these measurements please cite the following paper in addition to this dataset: Turner, T., Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J., Williams, J. Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C. Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivation along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. In preparation for Solid Earth These measurements were performed on SRTM data using the method outlined in Wedmore et al., 2020. Topographic profiles were sampled event 30 m and stacked at 120 m intervals along strike. Four faults in the Luangwa Rift have been measured using this technique: The Chipola, Chitembo, Kabungo and Molaza faults. The traces of these faults, and all other known active faults in the Luangwa Rift have been separately archived as part of the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database. Data Format Files are provided in comma separated value (csv) format. Each file contains one header line with descriptions of the data contained within each column. The column headings and extra information are summarised in the table below. Where data columns #5-10 are blank, this is because no measurements were possible in the profile corresponding to that particular row number. If columns 11-16 are blank, this is because there are no scarp height measurements within the sampling window of the moving average. Attribute Table Attribute Table for the measurements of scarp height in the Luangwa Rift Column # Attribute Units Data Type Notes 1 Longitude decimal degrees Float 2 Latitude decimal degrees Float 3 Distance Along Fault kilometers Float 4 Distance Along Fault meters Integer 5 Scarp Height meters Float Mean scarp height measurement of 10,000 iterations of scarp height with varying subset of points in the hanging wall, scarp and footwall slopes. 6 Scarp Height Standard Deviation meters Float Standard deviation of 10,000 iterations of meausuring the scarp height with varying subset of points in the hanging wall, scarp and footwall slopes. 7 Upper Slope Angle degrees Float Mean upper slope dip angle of 10,000 iterations of subset of points selected from the footwall slope (above the top of the fault scarp). 8 upper Slope Angle Standard Deviation degrees Float Standard devation of upper slope angle of 10,000 random subsets of the points selected on the upper slope of the fault. 9 Lower Slope Angle degrees Float Mean lower slope dip angle of 10,000 iterations of subset of points selected from the hanging wall slope. 10 lower Slope Angle Standard Deviation degrees Float Standard devation of lower slope angle of 10,000 random subsets of the points selected on the lower slope of the fault. 11 Filtered median offset (1 km) meters Float median scarp height over 1 km of the distance along strike (0.5 km either side of the point). 12 filtered standard deviation (1km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 1 km of the distance along strike (0.5 km either side of the point). 13 Filtered median offset (3 km) meters Float median scarp height over 3 km of the distance along strike (1.5 km either side of the point). 14 filtered standard deviation (3km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 3 km of the distance along strike (1.5 km either side of the point). 15 Filtered median offset (5 km) meters Float median scarp height over 5 km of the distance along strike (2.5 km either side of the point). 16 filtered standard deviation (5km) meters Float standard deviation scarp height over 5 km of the distance along strike (2.5 km either side of the point). Version Control This release is archived as part of the publication Turner et al. (submitted to EGU Solid Earth). It is intended that this database will be updated in the future as high resolution topography products become available and/or methods for measuring fault scarps improve. Please contact Luke Wedmore for more information or if you spot any errors. References Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J., Williams, J.N., Fagereng, Å., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Mdala, H. (2020) Active Fault Scarps in Southern Malawi and Their Implications for the Distribution of Strain in Incipient Continental Rifts. _Tectonics_, 39(3), e2019TC005834, doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005834 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Scarp height measurements for faults in the Luangwa Rift performed by Tess Turner for her University of Bristol MSci Earth Sciences final year project. If you use these measurements please cite the following paper in addition to this dataset: Turner, T., Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J., Williams, J. Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C. Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivation along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. In preparation for Solid Earth. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513545
 
Title Luangwa Rift Seismogenic Source Properties 
Description Seismogenic source properties derived from the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD). Source properties were calcuated using fault length and the scaling laws set out in Leonard (2010). For full details please refer to the following manuscript that accompanies the publication of this dataset: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. Submitted to EGU Solid Earth. Citation Please cite the latest release of this database on Zenodo in addition to the following manuscript: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. Submitted to EGU Solid Earth 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Seismogenic source properties derived from the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD). Source properties were calcuated using fault length and the scaling laws set out in Leonard (2010). For full details please refer to the following manuscript that accompanies the publication of this dataset: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. Submitted to EGU Solid Earth. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513778
 
Title Luangwa Rift Seismogenic Source Properties 
Description Seismogenic source properties derived from the Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database (LRAFD). Source properties were calcuated using fault length and the scaling laws set out in Leonard (2010). For full details please refer to the following manuscript that accompanies the publication of this dataset: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. Submitted to EGU Solid Earth. Citation Please cite the latest release of this database on Zenodo in addition to the following manuscript: Turner, T. Wedmore, L.N.J., Biggs, J. Williams, J.N., Sichingabula, H.M., Kabumbu, C., Banda, K. The Luangwa Rift Active Fault Database and fault reactivations along the southwestern branch of the East African Rift. Submitted to EGU Solid Earth 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6513777
 
Title MATLAB codes for MALAWI PSHA 
Description Repository for codes to conduct Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis in Malawi as described in Williams et al (2022). Codes are written in MATLAB and further descriptions are provided in the ReadMe file 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact None at the moment. We submitted a paper based on this algorithm. 
URL https://github.com/jack-williams1/Malawi_PSHA
 
Title Malawi Active Fault Database 
Description First release of the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD) associated with a publication in review with the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geosystems. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact None so far. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/5507190#.YjC2W3rP2Uk
 
Title Malawi Active Fault Database 
Description First release of the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD) associated with a publication in review with the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geosystems. To reference this database please refer to the latest release of the dataset on Github and Zenodo and please also cite: Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N. J., Scholz, C. A., Kolawole, F., Wright, L. J. M., Shillington, D., Fagereng, Å., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P. R. N., Werner, M. J. (2022), The Malawi Active Fault Database: an onshore-offshore database for regional assessment of seismic hazard and tectonic evoultion. _Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems_, 23(5), e2022GC010425. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010425 For full details of the database, please refer to the journal article above. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/5507189
 
Title Malawi PREPARE 2016-2019 - GPS/GNSS Observations (Aggregation of Multiple Datasets) 
Description Biggs, Juliet, Wedmore, Luke, Mdala, Hassan, 2021, Malawi PREPARE 2016-2019, The GAGE Facility operated by UNAVCO, Inc., GPS/GNSS Observations (Aggregation of Multiple Datasets), https://doi.org/10.7283/FASE-5453. This dataset contributed to the publications about the fault slip rate in Malawi. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The database led to a publication. 
URL https://www.unavco.org/data/doi/10.7283/FASE-5453
 
Title Malawi PSHA Matlab Codes 
Description Repository for codes to conduct Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis in Malawi as described in Williams et al (2023). Codes are written in MATLAB and further descriptions are provided in the ReadMe file doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad060 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact GEM is interested in this. 
URL https://github.com/jack-williams1/Malawi_PSHA
 
Title Malawi Seismogenic Source Database 
Description First release of the Malawi Seismogenic Source Database. This release is linked to the associated manuscript, which has been submitted to Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Science. The Malawi Seismogenic Source Database (MSSD) is a geospatial database that documents the geometry, slip rate and seismogenic properties (ie earthquake magnitude and frequency) of active faults in Malawi. Each geospatial feature represents a potential earthquake rupture of 'source' and is classified based on its geometry into one of three types: section fault multi-fault Source types are mutually exclusice, and so if incorporated into a PSHA, they should be assigned relative weightings. The MSSD is the first seismogenic source database in central and northern Malawi, and represents an update of the South Malawi Seismogenic Source Database (SMSSD; Williams et al., 2021) because it incorporates new active fault traces (Kolawole et al., 2021; Williams et al., submitted - MAFD), new geodetic data (Wedmore et al., 2021) and a statistical treatment of uncertainty, within a logic tree approach. Prior to publication please cite this database using the following two references: Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N .J., Fagereng, Å., Werner, M. J., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Kolawole, F., Shillington, D. J., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P., Wright, L. J. M.., Scholz, C. A. Geological and geodetic constraints on the seismic hazard of Malawi's active faults: the Malawi Seismogenic Source Database (MSSD). Manuscript submitted to Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Williams, Jack N., Wedmore, Luke N. J., Fagereng, Åke, Werner, Maximilian J., Biggs, Juliet, Mdala, Hassan, Kolawole, Folarin, Shillington, Donna J., Dulanya, Zuze, Mphepo, Felix, Chindandali, Patrick R. N., Wright, Lachlan J. M., & Scholz, Christopher A. (2021). Malawi Seismogenic Source Database (v1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5599617 Database Design and File Formats The MSSD is a geospatial database that consists of two separate components: A 3D geometrical model of fault seismogenic sources in Malawi The mapped trace of each source in a GIS vector format, with associated source attributes (Data Table). Each fault is associated with a source in the 3D geometrical model that is listed in a comma-separated-values (csv) file. The sections, faults and multi-faults that make up the individual seismogenic sources are described in separate geospatial files that describe the map-view geometry and metadata that control each sources earthquake magnitude and frequency for seismic hazard purposes. The sections, faults and multi-faults in this database are provided in a variety of GIS vector file formats. GeoJSON is the version of record, and any changes should be made in this version before they are converted to other file formats using the script in the repository that uses the GDAL tool ogr2ogr (the script is adapted from https://github.com/cossatot/central_am_carib_faults/blob/master/convert.sh - we thank Richard Styron for making this publicly available). The other versions available are ESRI ShapeFile, KML, GMT, and GeoPackage. List and brief description of the fault geometry, slip rate estimates and earthquake source attributes in the GIS vector format files that make up the MSSD. Attribuge Type Description Notes MSSD_ID integer Unique numerical reference ID for each seismic source ID 00-300 is section rupture ID 300-500 is fault rupture ID 600-700 is a multi-fault rupture name string Assigned based on previous mapping or local geographic feature. For sections and faults, the name of the fault (flt_name) and larger multi-fault (mflt_name) system they are hosted on are given respectively. basin string Basin that source is located within. Used in slip rate calculations class string intrarift or border fault length (Ls) real number straight-line distance in km between fault tips; sum of Lsec for segmented faults; sum of Lfault for multi-faults measured in km to 1 decimal place. Must be greater than 5 km (except for linking sections). area integer Calculated from Ls multiplied by Eq. 1 or based on fault truncation. measured in km2 strike integer Azimuth of straigth line between the fault tips. azimuth is 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This database is at the core of future studies on PSHA for MALAWI. 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/5599616
 
Title Malawi probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) using the Malawi Seismogenic Source Model (MSSM). Supplementary Files v1.1 
Description Updated (October 2022) version of supplementary files for running probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) MATLAB codes for Malawi. The PSHA codes themselves (v1.0) are available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7265781and the most recent version will be available on GitHub at: https://github.com/jack-williams1/Malawi_PSHA. Note the variables stored here are not stored on GitHub due to the file size. Includes both input files for performing PSHA and output ground motions for plotting PSHA results. Files are: malawi_Vs30_active.txt: Input USGS slope-based Vs30 values for Malawi (Wald and Allen 2007) EQCAT_comb.mat: MSSM Direct catalog for all possible rupture weightings (stored as MATLAB variable) GM_MSSM_em_20221027: Ground motions for plotting PSHA maps (stored as MATLAB variable) GM_MSSM_20221021.mat: Ground motions needed for plotting PSHA-site analysis figures (stored as MATLAB variable) mssm_comb.mat: Matlab file for combined MSSM Direct and Adapted MSSM catalogs (stored as MATLAB variable) MSSM_Catalog_Adapted_em.mat: Adapated MSSM event catalog (stored as MATLAB variable) syncat_bg.mat: Areal source stochastic event catalog (stored as MATLAB variable) Further descriptions of these files and how to use them are provided on Github. An open-access manuscript describing the PSHA is available at: Williams J. N., Werner M. J., Goda K., Wedmore L. N. J., De Risi R., Biggs J., Mdala H., Dulanya Z., Fagereng Å, Mphepo F., Chindandali P. (2023). Fault-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in regions with low strain rates and a thick seismogenic layer: a case study from Malawi, Geophysical Journal International, Volume 233, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 2172-2206, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad060 Please reference this publication along with this repository when using these data. USGS vs30 value compilation described in: Allen, T. I., and Wald, D. J., 2009, On the use of high-resolution topographic data as a proxy for seismic site conditions (Vs30), Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 99, no. 2A, 935-943. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/6350792
 
Title Measurements of fault throw displacements of cumulative morphological fault scarp of the Mt.Vettore-Mt.Bove Fault System (central Italy) 
Description  
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.920889
 
Title Mechanical data from rotary shear experiments on material derived from outcrops felsic and mafic rocks in the East African Rift Zone 
Description In all experiments, multiple series of velocity-steps were performed to obtain the velocity dependence of friction. The data can be modeled using rate-and-state friction equations (see Marone, 1998). We used the rate-and-state friction tool included in the XLOOK program to invert the data for all RSF parameters. For more details on the inversions scheme, see e.g. Reinen and Weeks, 1993. The excel-files included give the best fit values for the different parameters and different velocity steps. In some cases, one state variable was sufficient to get a satisfactory fit, in other cases two were needed. Note that steps that led to unstable stick-slips proved very difficult to model, since the sliding velocity tends to go to infinity (no damping included in the model). However, in most if not all cases, a result of the inversion could be found that was satisfactory, at least for the initial sliding after the step. Finally, in some cases a long term linear hardening or weakening trend was present, which was corrected. The data is provided in a folder with 14 subfolders for 14 experiments/samples. Detailed information about the files in these subfolders as well as information on how the data is processed is given in the explanatory file Hellebrekers_et_al_2019_Data_explanation.docx. Contact person is André Niemeijer - Projectleader - a.r.niemeijer@uu.nl 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Nabro volcano event catalogue from Lapins et al., 2021, JGR Solid Earth 
Description Catalogue of seismic events from Nabro volcano (Sep 2011 - Oct 2012). Data format is a csv file. Events were detected by U-GPD phase arrival picking model. See following paper for details on event detection and location procedure: A Little Data Goes A Long Way Way: Automating Seismic Phase Arrival Picking at Nabro Volcano With Transfer Learning by Lapins et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB021910). Original seismic waveforms are from the Nabro Urgency Array (Hammond et al., 2011; https://doi.org/10.7914/SN/4H_2011), which is publicly available through IRIS Data Services (http://service.iris.edu/fdsnws/dataselect/1/). See Hammond et al. (2011) for further details on waveform data access and availability. Full code to reproduce our U-GPD transfer learning model, perform model training, run the U-GPD model over continuous sections of data and use model picks to locate events in NonLinLoc (Lomax et al., 2000) are available at https://github.com/sachalapins/U-GPD, with the release (v1.0.0) associated with this study also archived and available through Zenodo (Lapins, 2021; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4558121). Dataset column key: time = Origin time of seismic event (UTC) lat = Hypocentre latitude in decimal degrees lon = Hypocentre longitude in decimal degrees depth = Hypocentre depth in km rms = RMS error for phase arrival picks and hypocentre (sec) erh = Estimate of horizontal Gaussian error (km) erz = Estimate of vertical Gaussian error (km) azgap = Azimuthal gap (maximum angle separating two adjacent seismic stations, measured from earthquake epicentre) cluster = HDBSCAN cluster number (see Chapter 6 of Lapins, 2021 doctoral thesis: Detecting and characterising seismicity associated with volcanic and magmatic processes through deep learning and the continuous wavelet transform. Persistent URL: https://hdl.handle.net/1983/ea90148c-a1b2-47ae-afad-5dd0a8b5ebbd) nab*_p_time = P-wave arrival time for station NAB* (UTC) nab*_p_prob = Maximum detection 'probability' around P-wave phase arrival from U-GPD model (between 0 and 1) nab*_s_time = S-wave arrival time for station NAB* (UTC) nab*_s_prob = Maximum detection 'probability' around S-wave phase arrival from U-GPD model (between 0 and 1) Station csv column key: Network = Seismic network name Station = Seismic station name Latitude = Latitude in decimal degrees Longitude = Longitude in decimal degrees Elevation_asl_km = Station elevation in km above sea level 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/7398823
 
Title Novelli_COMPDYN_2019 
Description This dataset contains all the information to reproduce the figures in the COMPDYN2019 conference publication titled: "Seismic vulnerability assessment of non-engineered masonry buildings in Malawi", by Novelli, V., Ngoma I., Kloukinas P., Kafodya, I., De Risi R., Macdonald J. and Goda K. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Novelli_SECED_2019 
Description This dataset contains all the information to reproduce the figures in the SECED2019 conference publication titled: "Seismic risk mitigation plan for countries in the East African Rift. Case study: Salima, Malawi", by Novelli, V., Ngoma I., Kafodya, I., Kloukinas P., De Risi R., Macdonald J. and Goda K. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title SPARTA algorithm codes 
Description Code to automatically measure fault scarp heights. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Publication doi: 10.5194/se-10-27-2019 Parts of this code have been implemented within Wedmore et al., 2020a;b. 
URL https://github.com/mshodge/FaultScarpAlgorithm
 
Title Scarp height data and topographic profiles from the Zomba Graben, southern Malawi 
Description Measurements of fault scarp height from five faults in the Zomba Graben, southern Malawi (Table S1-S6). Topographic profiles used to measure the height of the scarp are in Tables S7-S11. For more details of this dataset please refer to Wedmore, L. N. J., Biggs, J., Williams, J. N., Fagereng, Å. Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., & Mdala, H. (2020). Active fault scarps in southern Malawi and their implications for the distribution of strain in incipient continental rifts. Tectonics, 39(3), https://doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005834 Please contact the author, Luke Wedmore (luke.wedmore@bristol.ac.uk) for more details. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/3582281
 
Title Soil CO2 Flux Data from the southern Malawi Rift 
Description Soil CO2 data collected in transects across faults in the southern Malawi Rift in August 2018. Measurements of soil CO2 flux were collected during a survey in August 2018 during the dry season in Malawi, in order to attempt to reduce the possibility of a high biogenic flux obscuring the output of deeper CO2. We collected measurements using the accumulation chamber method (Chiodini et al., 1998), where a soil collar is coupled to the ground surface, and the gas flux is sampled and analysed for CO2 using a PP Systems EGM-4 Environmental Gas Analyser and a SRC-1 Soil Respiration Chamber. A high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM; 12.5 m TanDEM-X), was used to identify active fault scarps in southern Malawi (following Wedmore et al., 2020), which were the focus of our investigation. We collected flux measurements running from the footwall across the active faults and into the hanging wall of the scarps that we identified, with approximately 10-50 m spacing between individual sampling locations. Also published here is an ipython notebook to analyse the data. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/8251796
 
Title Supplementary Files for "Geodetic constraints on cratonic microplates and broad strain during rifting of thick Southern African lithosphere" 
Description This repository contains the supplementary files and tables for the manuscript: Geodetic constraints on cratonic microplates and broad strain during rifting of thick Southern African lithosphere L. N. J. Wedmore1, Biggs, J.1, Floyd, M.2, Fagereng, Å.3, Mdala, H.4, Chindandali, P.5, Williams, J.3, Mphepo, F.4 1School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 2Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 3School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK 4Geological Survey Department, Mzuzu Regional Office, Mzuzu, Malawi 5Geological Survey Department, Zomba, Malawi This manuscriptis published in Geophysical Research Letters: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093785 Please contact the author (luke.wedmore@bristol.ac.uk) for more information. File Information File S1 - Table of GNSS station velocities for the combined southern Malawi/GeoPRISMS/Saria et al. (2014) solution in the ITRF14 reference frame. File S2 - Table of GNSS station and the references for the data used in this paper. File S3 - Details of the sites used for the two-plate test and the results of this inversion. File S4 - Details of the sites used for the three-plate test and the results of this inversion. File S5 - A sig_neu command file with details of the random noise added to outlier sites within GLOBK. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/5031365
 
Title Supplementary Files for "Geodetic constraints on cratonic microplates and broad strain during rifting of thick Southern African lithosphere" 
Description This repository contains the supplementary files and tables for the manuscript: Geodetic constraints on cratonic microplates and broad strain during rifting of thick Southern African lithosphere L. N. J. Wedmore1, Biggs, J.1, Floyd, M.2, Fagereng, Å.3, Mdala, H.4, Chindandali, P.5, Williams, J.3, Mphepo, F.4 1School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 2Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 3School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK 4Geological Survey Department, Mzuzu Regional Office, Mzuzu, Malawi 5Geological Survey Department, Zomba, Malawi This manuscriptis published in Geophysical Research Letters: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093785 Please contact the author (luke.wedmore@bristol.ac.uk) for more information. File Information File S1 - Table of GNSS station velocities for the combined southern Malawi/GeoPRISMS/Saria et al. (2014) solution in the ITRF14 reference frame. File S2 - Table of GNSS station and the references for the data used in this paper. File S3 - Details of the sites used for the two-plate test and the results of this inversion. File S4 - Details of the sites used for the three-plate test and the results of this inversion. File S5 - A sig_neu command file with details of the random noise added to outlier sites within GLOBK. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The dataset was used as underlying data for the publication 10.1029/2021GL093785 
URL https://zenodo.org/record/5031366
 
Title sj-zip-1-eqs-10.1177_8755293020970977 - Supplemental material for The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu valley: Bayesian kriging for data-scarce regions 
Description Supplemental material, sj-zip-1-eqs-10.1177_8755293020970977 for The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu valley: Bayesian kriging for data-scarce regions by Raffaele De Risi, Flavia De Luca, Charlotte EL Gilder, Rama Mohan Pokhrel and Paul J Vardanega in Earthquake Spectra 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://sage.figshare.com/articles/dataset/sj-zip-1-eqs-10_1177_8755293020970977_Supplemental_materi...
 
Title sj-zip-1-eqs-10.1177_8755293020970977 - Supplemental material for The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu valley: Bayesian kriging for data-scarce regions 
Description Supplemental material, sj-zip-1-eqs-10.1177_8755293020970977 for The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu valley: Bayesian kriging for data-scarce regions by Raffaele De Risi, Flavia De Luca, Charlotte EL Gilder, Rama Mohan Pokhrel and Paul J Vardanega in Earthquake Spectra 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://sage.figshare.com/articles/dataset/sj-zip-1-eqs-10_1177_8755293020970977_Supplemental_materi...
 
Description Chancellor College 
Organisation University of Malawi - Chancellor College
Department Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
Country Malawi 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Fieldwork equipment. Staff time for fieldwork, training, data analysis and write-up of outputs.
Collaborator Contribution Logistical support, assisting with fieldwork in Malawi and staff time for write-up of outputs.
Impact DOI: 10.1029/2019TC005834 DOI: 10.1029/2019GC008219 DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2019.228167
Start Year 2017
 
Description Collaboration with Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation 
Organisation Global Earthquake Model Foundation
Country Italy 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution We aim to provide better constraints on the seismic hazard of Malawi, which may contribute to the global GEM seismic hazard model. We are gathering seismic data to assess ground motion models and build one appropriate for deep Malawi quakes.
Collaborator Contribution GEM are providing expertise about seismic hazard modelling and how these models will be used.
Impact Talk/abstract at the Seismological Society of America annual meeting 2022.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Geological Survey Department Malawi 
Organisation Government of Malawi
Department Department of Geological Survey
Country Malawi 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Fieldwork equipment. Staff time for fieldwork, training, data analysis and write-up of outputs.
Collaborator Contribution Logistical support, data access, assisting with fieldwork in Malawi and staff time for write-up of outputs.
Impact DOI: 10.5194/se-10-27-2019 DOI: 10.1029/2018gl077343 DOI: 10.1029/2019TC005933 DOI: 10.1029/2019TC005834 DOI: 10.1029/2019GC008219
Start Year 2015
 
Description MUST 
Organisation Malawi University of Science and Technology
Country Malawi 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Fieldwork equipment. Staff time for fieldwork, training, data analysis and write-up of outputs.
Collaborator Contribution Logistical support, assisting with fieldwork in Malawi and staff time for write-up of outputs. Host institution for project workshop 2018.
Impact DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2019.228167
Start Year 2017
 
Description Malawi Polytechnic 
Organisation University of Malawi
Country Malawi 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Site survey and laboratory testing methodologies. Equipment for laboratory testing. Staff time for site surveys, laboratory testing, training, data analysis.and write-up of outputs.
Collaborator Contribution Local knowledge. Laboratory testing facilities. Staff time for site surveys, laboratory testing and write-up of outputs. Host institution for project workshop 2019.
Impact DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-7446-3_8 DOI: 10.1007/s10901-019-09697-5 DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2019.100904 http://db.world-housing.net/building/205/ Scenario-based seismic risk assessment for Malawi using improved information on earthquake sources and local building characteristics https://www.seced.org.uk/index.php/proceedings/category/65-session-26-risk-assessment-in-developing-countries?download=272:26-7 Seismic vulnerability assessment of non-engineered masonry buildings in Malawi Strength of materials and masonry structures in Malawi https://www.ajol.info/index.php/mjst/article/view/185783
Start Year 2017
 
Title Malawi probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) using the Malawi Seismogenic Source Model (MSSM) 
Description Codes to generate the Malawi Seismogenic Source Model (Williams et al., 2022) and run probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) for Malawi as described in Williams et al., (2023). Codes as of October 2022 Codes need to be run with supplementary files available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6350792 (files too large to be stored on GitHub alone). For full details, please refer to the ReadMe. Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N., Fagereng, Å., Werner, M. J., Mdala, H., Shillington, D. J., ... & Chindandali, P. (2022). Geologic and geodetic constraints on the magnitude and frequency of earthquakes along Malawi's active faults: the Malawi Seismogenic Source Model (MSSM). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 22(11), 3607-3639. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3607-2022 Williams J. N., Werner M. J., Goda K., Wedmore L. N. J., De Risi R., Biggs J., Mdala H., Dulanya Z., Fagereng Å, Mphepo F., Chindandali P. (2023). Fault-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in regions with low strain rates and a thick seismogenic layer: a case study from Malawi, Geophysical Journal International, Volume 233, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 2172-2206, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad060 Please reference this publication along with this repository when using these data. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2022 
Open Source License? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/7265780
 
Description AGU Fall Meeting - online virtual poster presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Jack Williams presented a poster on how to implement FAULT in the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis at the American Geophysical Union.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description An Active Fault database for the Luangwa Rift, Zambia: Implications for continental rifting in thick lithosphere. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Wedmore, LNJ, Turner, T, Biggs, J, Williams, JN, Sichingabula, HM, Kabumbu, C, Banda, K. An Active Fault database for the Luangwa Rift, Zambia: Implications for continental rifting in thick lithosphere. Tectonic Studies Group Meeting, 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Blog Post for the European Geosciences Union 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Blog post written on personal invitation for the editor of the European Geosciences Union's blog (Elenora van Rijsingen). The EGU blog is aimed to provide updates on the latest research to an audience of dominantly students, researchers and other geoscience professionals.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2019/06/05/minds-over-methods-the-faults-of-a-rift/
 
Description Blog post - Scientists use new method to recalculate Malawi's seismic risk 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Blog on the temblor website. Temblor, Inc. is a catastrophe modelling company specializing in seismic hazard and risk assessment. Founded in 2014 by former USGS scientists Ross Stein and Volkan Sevilgen, Temblor's mission is to raise awareness of seismic risk. We serve the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked security communities, and mortgage lenders. The publication of such a post on the Temblor website could influence future trends on how to include faults on PSHA.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/scientists-use-new-method-to-recalculate-malawis-seismic-ris...
 
Description Building and fault-based seismic hazard map for Malawi 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Wedmore, LNJ, Williams, J, Werner, M, Goda, K, De Risi, R, Biggs, J, Mdala, H, Dulanya, Z, Fagereng, Å, Mphepo, F, Chindandali, P. Building and fault-based seismic hazard map for Malawi. Faults to SHA meeting, Chieti, 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yycMaUGlim1RV8P7-_o-dBOJwb6ZwwNiA0MjhyLeyxQ/edit
 
Description COMET Webinar: Seismic Hazard in East Africa from Continental rifting of thick lithosphere 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Luke Wedmore presented the project activities to an international academic community. Questions and discussion followed the talk.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7lRugJTHBQ
 
Description Delivered talk What can geology tell us about forecasting earthquake hazards? New insights from the East African Rift. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Event part of the GeoTalks webinar series which is suitable for a diverse audience including the public, secondary school pupils and professionals.
Cardiff University School of Earth and Environmental Sciences GeoTalk series (online oral presentation). Talk of Dr Jack Williams.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWpS3B-WvqM
 
Description GFDRR Rift2018 Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact RIFT2018 was a Regional Seismic Risk and Resilience Workshop organized by the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), which brought together government officials and academics from six East African Rift countries. It aimed to assess the risks and enable action to strengthen institutional and policy frameworks for seismic risk management and to build the capacity of selected national and local governments in Sub-Saharan Eastern Africa in the East African Rift Valley. Dr John Macdonald, PI on PREPARE, was one of four invited international speakers and gave input on the fragility of the built environment. The workshop resulted in each of the six country delegations preparing a challenge and opportunity plan to take back to their own governments. There were requests for further participation of the PREPARE team, especially in Uganda and Kenya
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description How do inherited, ductile structures influence active rifting? 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Ake Fagereng delivered a talk on Strain localization and inheritance within the Rifts and Rifted Margins Seminar Series. The talk was followed by a discussion and Q&A.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFIeVK9d-Z8&t=52s
 
Description Malawi Urban Forum III 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Organized by the Malawi Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, in collaboration with the National Habitat Committee, the Malawi Urban Forum III brought together a wide range of stakeholders to address the challenges of rapid urbanization in Malawi. The focus was "Towards Safe, Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements in Malawi". The PREPARE team was invited to contribute a talk. This was given by Dr Panos Kloukinas (RA on the project) on 'Seismic Disaster Preparedness and Resilience of Malawian Communities'. There was much interest and discussion on the talk and the session led to a recommendation that the forthcoming National Urban Plan make a specific reference regarding the need for hazard mapping in the country and the development/use of risk analysis tools, to assist risk management policymaking.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://malawiurbanforum.mw/
 
Description Multi-hazard scenarios in Malawi 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Innocent Kafodya visited Bristol for a week to discuss current multi-hazard issues in Malawi and potential future collaborations.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Online Seminar "Onshore to offshore active fault databases in Malawi- implications for fault networks and seismic hazard in amagmatic continental rifts" as part of online series on Rifts and Rifted Margins 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact With this talk, Dr Jack Williams held a discussion on onshore and offshore active faults in Malawi. Specifically, implications for fault networks and seismic hazard in amagmatic continental rifts were emphasised and discussed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description PREPARE Workshop 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact The workshop was organized by the project team and took place in Malawi.
The main purposes of the UK-Malawi Disaster Research workshop were to:
•Strengthen existing links with academic/industrial/governmental partners
•Create new links for future collaboration among people who are interested in seismic disaster preparedness and resilience of Malawi and other East African countries
The workshop included a series of talks and discussion sessions giving an overview of the PREPARE project and presenting the methodology and findings. Participants contributed by giving talks on their research related to the workshop theme. The workshop provided the PREPARE investigators and partners with opportunities to brainstorm the next step of the development of the project. It comprised conference-style presentation sessions and project meetings for academics and professionals (43 delegates from 14 different organizations in Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia) and workshop training modules (in class and in field) on Techtonics, Seismology, Structural & Earthquake Engineering and Seismic Vulnerability Assessment for students and junior academic staff from Malawian institutions (51 participants from 3 institutions).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/events/2018/prepare-africa.html
 
Description PREPARE Workshop 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The workshop was organized by the project team and took place in Malawi.
The main purposes of the UK-Malawi Seismic Risk Research Workshop were to:
(i) Strengthen existing cross-disciplinary and multinational collaborations on seismic risk research,
(ii) Create new links for future collaboration among people who are interested in seismic disaster preparedness and resilience of Malawi and other East African countries and
(iii) Disseminate research findings and open discussion on implementation and policy issues to reduce seismic risk.
The workshop included a series of talks, discussion sessions and training sessions giving an overview of the PREPARE project, training academic participants and raising awareness of earthquake risk with stakeholders including government representatives and local community leaders. Each day of the 5-day workshop had a different focus and target audience. Day 1 covered the findings from the PREPARE project and related research by project partners; Day 2 focussed on software training for academics and practitioners; Day 3 was the central high-profile conference aimed at government representatives, with keynote speakers and panel discussions; Day 4 was a stakeholder workshop which engaged a wider range of stakeholders including local community leaders; Day 5 focussed on next steps towards impact for the Malawian partners.

The workshop reached 29 academics from 5 higher education institutions in Malawi, 27 delegates from 7 Malawian government departments and 3 city councils, 8 local community leaders and 11 representatives of 9 other national and international organisations. It also featured participation and keynote lectures by officers from the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and by academics from Ardhi University, Tanzania and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

The audience, especially government and local community representatives, reported greater awareness of earthquake risk and mitigation measures.

The final day led to Malawian partners identifying a road map for policy briefs on earthquake risk for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Rifts and Rifted Margins Seminar Series: Rifting and Rheological heterogeneity: from fault damage zones to plate boundaries 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Luke Wedmore delivered a talk on Rifting & rheological heterogeneity. Specifically, fault damage zones and plate boundaries were the focus of the talk. Questions and discussion followed the talk.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaJEbXLTd9E
 
Description Seismic Hazards in Rifts 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dr ack Williams gave a talk on Rifts and Rifted Margins online seminar series - https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/sektion/geodynamische-modellierung/projekte/rift-and-rifted-margins-online-seminar.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/sektion/geodynamische-modellierung/projekte/rift-and-rifted-margins-onlin...
 
Description presenting work from PREPARE and SAFER PREPARED projects which focus on Malawi @Fault2SHA workshop Check out the programme here 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Jack Williams presented how to include faults in PSHA. A discussion on how to obtain fault slip rates in East Africa in Q&A after the talk was held.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL http://fault2sha.net/5th-workshop/