Abstract:
The city of Karachi, Pakistan (pop. 14 M) sits close to a plate boundary and within reach of earthquakes on numerous tectonically active structures surrounding the city. One can draw parallels—geologic as well as demographic—with another megacity for which seismic hazard is known to be high: Los Angeles, California. With a short historical record, limited instrumental seismic data, and little geological or geodetic constraint on slip rates, seismic hazard in Karachi is poorly characterized. This article discusses some of the conflicting historical and recent data from which Karachi's seismic history has been inferred.