ASSESSMENT OF SEISMOTECTONIC DEFORMATIONS IN ALMATY BASED ON INSAR MONITORING DATA

2026

Full text Open access: Hybrid Metadata (CSL-JSON)
DOI 10.51885/3134-8009_jes_2026_3_18
Data confidence 70 medium
How this score is calculated

It is built from checkable properties of the record itself: whether the article has a DOI, how many independent sources confirmed its data, whether the required fields are filled in, and how recent the latest confirmation is. Disagreement between sources and a missing identifier lower it. A value of 80 or above means the record was published without further checking; 60 to 79 means it is published at reduced confidence, with a manual check advisable. A record verified by an editor by hand is never pushed below 90 by a recalculation. This scores our data about the article, not the article itself.

Abstract

The study presents the results of ground deformation monitoring in Almaty for the period 2017–2023 using the SBAS-InSAR method and Sentinel-1 satellite data. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the application of the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) algorithm for the quantitative assessment of vertical and horizontal displacement rates under conditions of complex terrain and dense urban development. It was established that the city's deformation field is strongly controlled by active faults (the Zailiysky Fault, the Almaty Fault, and others). Three characteristic zones were identified: subsidence (Block 1), uplift (Block 2), and mixed deformation (Block 3). Maximum negative trends (−57 mm/year) were recorded in the foothill areas, which, in combination with seismic microzonation data, indicate zones of increased geodynamic risk. Five cases of deformation affecting buildings and bridges with cumulative subsidence trends were identified. The results confirm the high activity of tectonic structures within the city limits, highlighting the need to integrate InSAR data into urban risk assessment systems and construction regulations.