EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS FOR CROSS-COUNTRY PIPELINES

A review of the current state-of-knowledge in risk-based earthquake-resistant design of pipeline systems is presented. Damage to pipelines during past earthquakes is studied, and the necessity of evaluating the risk to such systems from earthquakes for their economic design is illustrated. The various aspects of seismic risk analysis of pipeline systems are briefly studied and a conclusion reached that given a tectonic and seismic data for the region in which pipelines lie, in addition to proper definition of various levels of pipeline unserviceability, it is possible to estimate the earthquake hazards to such pipelines with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Since this subject is of topical interest to this country, with increasing number of pipeline systems laid in earthquake-prone areas, specific areas are identified where more information is required before meaningful seismic risk analysis of pipelines can be done in India.