# Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment for United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain
## 8 Summary and Conclusions  
The current assessment presents an up-to-date probabilistic seismic hazard study for the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain. In this analysis, an attempt to achieve an improvement in the seismic hazard with the help of an updated, unified, and Poissonian earthquake catalog, as well as a new updated seismic source model, has been carried out. Additionally, the consideration of three alternative source models throughout the application of a logic-tree scheme, as well as the selection of ground-motion attenuation models was accomplished. The hazard results have been presented in terms of PGA and SA values and contour maps, for a 10% and 5% probability of exceedance in 50 years (return periods of 475 and 975 years, respectively), for the B/C NEHRP boundary site conditions, for the whole studied region. In addition, hazard curves, UHS, and hazard deaggregation for selected significant emirates and cities were specifically derived in comparison with the officially enforced regulations at each individual site. In addition, a design spectrum, based on the SA (0.2 s) and SA (1.0 s) values, has been proposed as a uniform regulation for the seismic design for the studied region.  
Significant differences have been observed when comparing the output results from this assessment (UHS for a return period of 475 years) with those available regulations considered by the local authorities (elastic response spectrum) responsible for the seismic design. Thus, a change in the seismic design representation, the seismic hazard results, as well as the recommendation of taking into consideration the new proposed design spectra in the building regulations for the studied countries is advisable. Reflecting the recent scientific advances in the delimitation and characterization of possible potential seismic sources, the consideration of representative ground-motion attenuation models, and application of up-to-date seismic hazard-engineering concepts, we are confident that this assessment represents a clear improvement of the seismic input for the three countries. This assessment also provides the necessary seismic hazard data in a compatible format with the requirements of new building codes. It is worth noting that once more information relevant to the seismicity and seismotectonics is available, more seismic hazard studies should be conducted in the region.  
Conceptualization, R.S. and J.A.P.; methodology, R.S. and J.A.P.; software, R.S.; validation, R.S.; formal analysis, R.S. and J.A.P.; investigation, R.S., J.A.P., and M.H.; resources, R.S.; data curation, R.S. and J.A.P.; writing--original draft preparation, R.S.; writing--review and editing, R.S., J.A.P., and M.H.; visualization, R.S.; supervision, J.A.P.; project administration, R.S.; funding acquisition, J.A.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
The second author is grateful for receiving partial financial support for this research work through the Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucia 2014-2020--Call by the University of Jaen, 2018.  
We would like to thank [PERSON] (Institute of Geophysics, UNAM, Mexico) who reviewed the English language of the manuscript. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful remarks and invaluable comments.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.