As a result of the International Workshop on Strong-Motion Earthquake Instrument Arrays in Hawaii, May 2-5, 1978, and subsequent discussions, a cooperative U.S.-India project was established to organize and install an earthquake strong motion accelerograph array in India. In August 1983, installation of 49 accelerograph stations was completed in the epicentral region of the Great Kangra Earthquake of 1905 in India. Since 1983, this array has been maintained by the staff of the University of Roorkee, India. Later, another strong motion array of 50 stations was installed in the area of Shillong, Assam, where a great earthquake of magnitude 8.7 occurred in 1897. Arrays such as these provide invaluable data whenever they are able to record a large earthquake, data which is used to better understand the processes causing earthquakes, the ground shaking resulting from large earthquakes, the effect on the stability of soil structures at a particular construction site, the response of a building or structure at that site, and the damage and loss of life that could result from damage and collapse of soil structures and buildings. Since large earthquakes are rare events, it is essential that strong motion arrays be placed in any place in the world where strong earthquakes are expected within the next decade or two. This action will assist in obtaining such data from these two crucial arrays in India, one of which was installed as cooperative agreement between the U.S. and India. The purpose of this action is to continue and to extend the accomplishments of this effort and to archive, digitize, and publish already available strong motion data in India, so that a complete detailed data gathering program can be set up for future research and its applications: all scientists and engineers involved in earthquake hazard reduction can benefit from this effort by having a sound experimental basis for their analyses and engineering applications.
