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SUMMARYUnravelling relations between lateral variations of mid-crustal seismicity and the geometry of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) system at depth is a key issue in seismotectonic studies of the Himalayan range. These relations can reveal along strike changes in the behaviour of the fault at depth related to fluids or the local ramp-flat geometry and more generally of the stress build-up along the fault. Some of these variations may control the rupture extension of intermediate, large or great earthquakes, the last of which dates back from 1505 CE in far western Nepal. The region is also associated to lateral spatio-temporal variations of the mid-crustal seismicity monitored by the Regional Seismic Network of Surkhet–Birendranagar. This network was supplemented between 2014 and 2016 by 15 temporary stations deployed above the main seismic clusters giving new potential to regional studies. Both absolute and relative locations together with focal mechanisms are determined to gain insight on the fault behaviour at depth. We find more than 4000 earthquakes within 5 and 20 km-depth clustered in three belts parallel to the front of the Himalayan range. Finest locations reveal close relationships between seismic clusters and fault segments at depth among which mid-crustal ramps and reactivated tectonic slivers. Our results support a geometry of the MHT involving several fault patches at depth separated by ramps and tear faults. This geometry most probably affects the pattern of the coseismic ruptures breaking partially or totally the locked fault zone as well as eventual along strike variations of seismic coupling during interseismic period.

The Corinth Rift (Greece) is one of the most seismically active regions in Europe and has been studied extensively during the past decades. It is characterized by normal faulting and extension rates between 6 and 15 mm yr−1 in an approximately N10E° direction. The seismicity of the area is continuously monitored by the stations of the Corinth Rift Laboratory Network (CRL Net). The availability of a dense permanent seismological network allows the extensive analysis of the seismic swarms which occur frequently. In this study, the September 2014 swarm located at the western part of the Corinth Gulf is analyzed. Initially, more than 4000 automatically located events, of a two month period, were relocated using the HYPODD algorithm, incorporating both catalogue and cross-correlation differential traveltimes. Consequently, the initial seismic cloud was separated into several smaller, densely concentrated clusters. Double difference relocation was also applied to 707 manually located events in order to investigate the Vp/Vs ratio variation, due to its sensitivity in pore fluids. The swarm’s parameters such as seismicity distribution and moment tensors were combined with the seismotectonic data of the area. The results indicate an initial activation of the Psathopyrgos normal fault; afterwards the seismicity extended both towards East and West, while most events occurred at the western part of the study area. The seismicity distribution revealed a main activation of the North – dipping faults. The seismicity migration with respect to pore pressure changes due to fluid movements was investigated through diffusivity calculations. The diffusivity value was found to be 4.5m2s-1, which is consistent with results of previous studies in the area. The results of the investigation of the fault- zone hydraulic behavior provide evidence for the fluid – triggered earthquake swarms and the related rock physical properties.

International audience; The 30 May 2015 M w 7.9 Bonin Islands earthquake, Japan, is one of the largest deep-focus earthquakes ever recorded. Its occurrence, close to 700-km depth, in an area without any known historical seismicity, along with its magnitude, was a surprise to scientists. Deep earthquakes are generally believed to have few aftershocks and no foreshocks. Here, we explore the earthquake productivity in the hypocentral surroundings and detect 49 not previously identified earthquakes, 28 of which occurred during an accelerating preseismic phase that started 3 months prior to the main shock. This is the first time that such foreshock activity has been observed for a deep earthquake. The preseismic and postseismic activity suggests transformational faulting within a metastable olivine wedge (MOW) inside the slab at depth as the triggering principal mechanism for this deep earthquake sequence, the seismicity starting where the backward bending of the subducting Pacific plate is maximum. Plain Language Summary Deep earthquakes have been puzzling seismologists for almost a century, since their discovery in the 1920s. Earthquakes deeper than 50 km represent about 25% of the global seismicity, and deep-focus earthquakes are defined as those located at 300-km depth or more. They can be exceedingly large and occur at temperatures and pressures where sliding and fracture are inhibited, thus the brittle fracture/friction mechanism, valid in Earth's crust, cannot hold. Despite their abundance, the physical mechanism behind deep-focus earthquakes is still a subject of ongoing debate. The Bonin Islands earthquake (30 May 2015, M w 7.9) occurred at 680-km depth in a previously quiet area. In order to better understand why and how it occurred there, we searched for previously unknown earthquakes in the surroundings. For the first time, we identify a preseismic phase preceding such a very deep-focus earthquake. The location of the newly detected earthquakes reveals the geometry of the slab at depth, and their spatiotemporal distribution supports transformation of metastable olivine as the rupture initiation process.

International audience; Historical seismicity is mainly defined from historical sources which are not always available. Yet historical buildings are a unique opportunity to record and study effects of past earthquakes at a given place. An innovative methodology is defined to improve knowledge of local historical seismicity. Such a methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach combining: analysis of historical sources, stratigraphic analysis and structural analysis of an historical building. The church of Sant’Agata del Mugello (Italy, Tuscany) is considered as a case of study. The stratigraphic analysis is performed by identifying the repairs using the RECAP methodology. 80 repairs units using 13 building techniques are identified in the church. The identified repairs are associated with unknown events, earthquakes or routine reconstructions. When post-earthquake reconstructions are found, damage mechanisms are associated with them. 13 constructive phases of the church have been traced combining stratigraphic analysis and historical sources. A proto-church was built before 948 A.D. and is nowadays below the current one. The first phase of the current church appears between the 9th and the 12th century. A significant event of unknown origin occurred during the 12th century which probably led to an important collapse and then a significant reconstruction of the church. The church is then deeply affected by the 1542 seismic event (epicentral macroseismic intensity 9, deduced magnitude 6.02) which resulted in the collapse of the upper part of the bell tower and the two lateral chapels as well as the overturning of the front wall and of the two lateral walls of the nave. The 1611 seismic event (epicentral macroseismic intensity 7, deduced magnitude 5.1) damaged the upper part of the bell tower as described in historical records. In spite of the confirmed occurrence of seismic events in the area from the middle of the 17th century and the beginning of the 20th century, no information relating seismic damage of the church has been found in historical records nor in the startigraphic analysis. The most important earthquake which struck the area on June 19th, 1919, produced only some small cracks in the church (magnitude 6.38).

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International audience; Modeling the seismic potential of active faults and their associated epistemic uncertainties is a fundamental step of probabilistic seismic-hazard assessment (PSHA). Seismic hazard and earthquake rate in fault systems (SHERIFS) is an open-source python code that builds hazard models including earthquake ruptures involving several fault sections or fault-to-fault (FtF) ruptures. It contains user-friendly tools to calculate the annual rate of FtF ruptures in a fault system based on the slip-rate estimates and accounting for associated background seismicity. SHERIFS applies a forward incremental approach following three rules: (1) the FtF ruptures allowed in the fault system are defined as input by the user and explored randomly, (2) the magnitude-frequency distribution of the modeled seismicity in the fault system must follow an imposed shape, and (3) the slip-rate budget attributed to each fault section must be preserved in the calculation if the first two rules allow it. Indeed, in some cases, a fraction of the slip-rate budget must be considered as being spent in non-mainshock events such as creep or postseismic slip. Background seismicity rates are defined by the hazard modeler as the ratio of seismicity occurring on the modelled faults for different ranges of magnitude. Given a coherent set of input hypotheses, SHERIFS allows end users to build the seismic-hazard fault model thanks to an interactive user-friendly interface. It aims to help interactions between field data collectors and hazard modelers to explore and weight epistemic uncertainties affecting the input hypotheses. To do so, SHERIFS includes tools to compare modeled earthquake rates with the available local data (earthquake catalog and paleoseismological data). This comparison can be used to weigh different hypotheses explored in a logic tree and discard the hypotheses that are not in agreement with the data. SHERIFS's outputs are in a format that can be used directly as inputs for PSHA in the OpenQuake engine (Pagani et al., 2014).

International audience; The zone of interaction between the Cocos (CO), Caribbean (CA) and North America (NA) plates in Guatemala is defined by the sub-parallel Motagua and Polochic strike-slip faults, a series of north-south-trending extensional grabens immediately south of the Motagua Fault, the Middle America trench, and faults within the Middle America volcanic arc. Historical earthquakes associated with these faults include the destructive 1976 Mw 7.5 earthquake along the Motagua fault and the 2012 Mw 7.5 Champerico thrust earthquake. The latest published GPS-based present-day kinematic model of the region shows that about two-thirds of the strain accumulation from the NA/CA relative motion concentrates on the Motagua fault and one third across the Polochic fault, suggesting that slip varies with time as a result of mechanical interactions within the Motagua-Polochic fault system. As part of the efforts to quantify the present-day kinematics and slip behavior of these faults, we use interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to measure the strain rates across faults in Guatemala and to constrain slip partitioning among them. We processed L-band ALOS-1 images spanning from 2006 to 2011, and C-band Sentinel-1 images spanning from 2015 to 2019, from ascending and descending tracks covering the Polochic and Motagua faults, the Ipala and Guatemala City grabens, and part of the volcanic arc to the south. We are using the New Small temporal and spatial baselines (NSBAS) workflow to compute the interferograms, make tropospheric and ionospheric corrections, and perform time-series analysis. We present the first InSAR-based maps of interseismic velocity for this region, which will contribute to the refinement of interseismic locking estimates across the Motagua-Polochic fault system, the subduction zone, and other nearby faults.

International audience; The crustal structure of Western Nepal is studied for the first time by performing receiver function analysis on teleseismic waveforms recorded at 16 seismic stations. The Moho geometry is imaged as it deepens from ~40-km depth beneath the foothills and the Lesser Himalaya to ~58-km depth beneath the Higher Himalayan range. A midcrustal low-velocity zone is detected at ~15-km depth along ~55-km horizontal distance and is interpreted as the signature of fluids expelled from rocks descending in the footwall of the Main Himalayan Thrust. Our new image allows structural comparison of the Moho and of the Main Himalayan Thrust geometry along-strike of the Himalayas and documents long-wavelength lateral variations. The general crustal architecture observed on our images resembles that of Central Nepal; therefore, Western Nepal is also expected to be able to host large (M W > 8) megathrust earthquakes, as the 1505 CE event. Plain Language Summary We investigate the Earth's crust in Western Nepal. We use 16 stations to detect waves from faraway earthquakes, and using these we make an image of the structure of the crust. We find that the crust is getting thicker beneath the Himalaya and that fluids are locally present in the upper part of the crust. As this image is similar to the one we know in Central Nepal, where major earthquakes happened, it is possible that major earthquakes will also happen in Western Nepal in the future (without knowing when).

International audience; Unusually high compressional (P) to shear (S) wave velocity ratios (V p /V s) were measured at different subduction zones and interpreted as fluid-pressurized regions. Because no laboratory data reported such high values in isotropic rocks, mineralogical or anisotropic constrains were assumed. However, fluid-saturated rocks' V p /V s is a frequency-dependent property so that standard laboratory measurements cannot be directly upscaled to the field. Using a new methodology, we measured the property in the elastic regime relevant to field measurements for diverse lithologies. We obtained extreme V p /V s values, consistent with those reported at seismic frequency in the field. Consistently with a model, it shows that if high fluid pressure is a key factor, anomalous V p /V s values could evidence intense degrees of microfracturation in isotropic rocks, whichever its mineralogical content. The permeability of these regions could be larger than 10 À16 m 2. Plain Language Summary Anomalous seismic properties measured at subduction zones across the globe have been linked to the occurrence of earthquakes or tremors. However, different physical causes were postulated to interpret such seismic properties, and none of the laboratory measurements quantitatively fitted with those anomalous values. From laboratory measurements dedicated to link with field ones, we report the first data set that fits with field measurements observed at subduction zones. We show that such values might evidence a large degree of microfracturing, opened by high pore fluid pressure, in isotropic rocks of any mineralogy.

International audience; We use continuous and campaign measurements from 215 GPS sites in northern Central America and southern Mexico to estimate coseismic and afterslip solutions for the 2009 M w = 7.3 Swan Islands fault strike-slip earthquake and the 2012 M w = 7.3 El Salvador and M w = 7.4 Guatemala thrust-faulting earthquakes on the Middle America trench. Our simultaneous , time-dependent inversion of more than 350 000 daily GPS site positions gives the first jointly consistent estimates of the coseismic slips for all three earthquakes, their combined time-dependent post-seismic effects and secular station velocities corrected for both the co-seismic and post-seismic deformation. Our geodetic slip solutions for all three earthquakes agree with previous estimates that were derived via static coseismic-offset modelling. Our time-dependent model, which attributes all transient post-seismic deformation to earthquake afterslip, fits nearly all of the continuous GPS site position time-series within their several-millimetre position noise. Afterslip moments for the three earthquakes range from 35 to 140 per cent of the geodetic coseismic moments, with the largest afterslip estimated for the 2012 El Salvador earthquake along the weakly coupled El Salvador trench segment. Forward modelling of viscoelastic deformation triggered by all three earthquakes for a range of assumed mantle and lower crustal viscosities suggests that it accounts for under 20 per cent of the observed post-seismic deformation and possibly under 10 per cent. Our results thus point to afterslip as the primary and perhaps dominant mode of post-seismic deformation for these C The Author(s)

International audience; The midcrustal seismicity along the Himalayas depicts some lateral variations. This seismicity is often related to stress build up, at depth, along the downdip extent of the fault segments producing large and great earthquakes. To better characterize these variations, we deployed the first temporary seismological network in West Nepal (HiKNet) as a complement to the Nepalese national network. We used automatic picks, manually validated, to perform absolute and relative location of the earthquakes. The resulting catalog contains 2190 local events, shallow to midcrustal (8-16 km). The comparison between the seismicity and the geologic balanced cross-sections shows that most earthquakes occur within the hanging wall of the Main Himalayan Thrust fault nearby ramps or suspected contacts between Lesser Himalayan slivers. Some of the events associated with these geological structures are clustered within weeks-long earthquake swarms with seismic envelopes migrating at 35-50 m/day. These transients are possibly related to fluid migrations or geodetically unresolved slow slip events. The lateral variations of some of the structures associated to this seismicity are likely partially controlling the extent of the coseismic ruptures during intermediate earthquakes that break partly the locked fault zone, in a similar way to what was reported after the Mw7.8 2015 Gorkha-Nepal earthquake. A better characterization of the faults segmentation, including a better location and extent of the seismogenic segments at depth, is an important input for seismic hazard studies.

International audience; We analyse the complete earthquake archive of the western Corinth Rift using both cross-correlations between pairs of event waveforms and accurate differential traveltimes observed at common stations, in order to identify small-scale fault structures at depth. The waveform database was generated by the dense Corinth Rift Laboratory network and includes about 205 000 events between 2000 and 2015. Half of them are accurately relocated using double-difference techniques. The novelty of this relocated catalogue is the integration of the recent westernmost earthquakes due to the extension of the network in 2010 to the western extremity of the Corinth Rift and the consideration of the whole database over more than 15 yr. The total relocated seismicity exhibits well-defined clusters at the root of the main normal faults mainly between 5 and 10 km depth in the middle of the gulf and illuminates thin active structure planes dipping north about 20° under the northern coast. Some seismicity is observed in the footwall of the main active faults, along the West and East Helike faults. We also built a multiplet database based on waveform similarity taking into account cross-correlation coefficients weighted by signal-to-noise ratios. Short-term multiplets are concentrated in the middle of the gulf along the Kamarai fault system, in a 1–2 km thick layer at 6–8 km depth, interpreted as a highly fractured geological layer. They are often associated to slow seismic migration velocities occurring in this zone during strong swarm episodes and are thus likely to be triggered by pore pressure variations. On the other hand, most long-term and regular multiplets are located deeper (7–10 km), under the northern coast, within a layer less than 0.3 km thick. They occur at the border of nearly planar structures with low seismicity rate, which we identify as fault planes, and they may be explained by aseismic slip on the fault surface around them. This supports the existence of an immature structure growing downdip towards the north at the base of the active geological layer, which possibly connects to the ductile middle crust around 15 km depth, as suggested by the occurrence of deeper events in the continuity of the 1995–fault plane. The different migration velocities (from 0.05 km d−1 to several km d−1) highlighted during the western 2014–swarms indicate that both pore pressure and creep diffusion are operating in the fault zone. The fast migrations observed in the Psathopyrgos fault zone, where a slow slip event was detected by dilatometers in 2002, compare with that for creeping faults. To the west, from spatial distribution of events, we show that the Rion–Patras fault connecting the western extremity of the Corinth Rift fault system to the Patras Rift, is dipping around 60° north–west with a rake angle of −115°. Finally, we identified two new areas within the central active zone which may correspond to large scale, locked asperities on active fault surfaces, similar in size to the main asperity broken during the 1995, MW 6.3, Aigion earthquake.

The area of the western Gulf of Corinth around the city of Aigio (Achaea, northwest Peloponnese, Greece) represents an international pilot site for continuous monitoring and multidisciplinary research on earthquake processes. In the framework of the ANR‐SISCOR Corinth Rift Laboratory project (2011–2014), a thorough reappraisal of the five largest ( M w >6) eighteenth–nineteenth century earthquakes was performed, namely those of 14 May 1748, 23 August 1817, 26 December 1861, 9 September 1888, and 25 August 1889. Written observations of earthquake effects were looked into in their original version and language and were placed in the context from which they originated, to avoid the translations and digests on which previous seismological studies had relied. Earthquake records were traced for 108 different localities, and 143 macroseismic intensities in European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS‐98) have been assigned. Earthquake‐related geological phenomena have been identified and carefully mapped, to be used as a further constraint of the location and magnitude of the associated earthquakes. Finally, new parameters for the studied earthquakes have been assessed with two separate and independent strategies to quantify epistemic uncertainties. In conclusion, the 1748, 1817, and 1888 earthquakes were located in the area of Aigio; the 1861 earthquake is reckoned to be the largest in the area, with an epicentral location at sea; whereas the 1889 earthquake has been relocated to the northwest in mainland Greece, well outside the Gulf of Corinth. Electronic Supplement: Additional material and intensity values in European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS‐98) for the five studied earthquakes, and tests on deriving earthquake parameters.

International audience; Modeling the seismic potential of active faults is a fundamental step of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). An accurate estimation of the rate of earthquakes on the faults is necessary in order to obtain the probability of exceedance of a given ground motion. Most PSHA studies consider faults as independent structures and neglect the possibility of multiple faults or fault segments rupturing simultaneously (fault-to-fault, FtF, ruptures). The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast version 3 (UCERF-3) model takes into account this possibility by considering a system-level approach rather than an individual-fault-level approach using the geological, seismological and geodetical information to invert the earthquake rates. In many places of the world seismological and geodetical information along fault networks is often not well constrained. There is therefore a need to propose a methodology relying on geological information alone to compute earthquake rates of the faults in the network. In the proposed methodology, a simple distance criteria is used to define FtF ruptures and consider single faults or FtF ruptures as an aleatory uncertainty, similarly to UCERF-3. Rates of earthquakes on faults are then computed following two constraints: the magnitude frequency distribution (MFD) of earthquakes in the fault system as a whole must follow an a priori chosen shape and the rate of earthquakes on each fault is determined by the specific slip rate of each segment depending on the possible FtF ruptures. The modeled earthquake rates are then compared to the available independent data (geodetical, seismological and paleoseis-mological data) in order to weight different hypothesis explored in a logic tree. The methodology is tested on the western Corinth rift (WCR), Greece, where recent advancements have been made in the understanding of the geological slip rates of the complex network of normal faults which are accommodating the ∼ 15 mm yr −1 north–south extension. Modeling results show that geological, seismological and paleoseismological rates of earthquakes cannot be reconciled with only single-fault-rupture scenarios and require hypothesizing a large spectrum of possible FtF rupture sets. In order to fit the imposed regional Gutenberg–Richter (GR) MFD target, some of the slip along certain faults needs to be accommodated either with interseismic creep or as post-seismic processes. Furthermore, computed individual faults' MFDs differ depending on the position of each fault in the system and the possible FtF ruptures associated with the fault. Finally, a comparison of modeled earthquake rupture rates with those deduced from the regional and local earthquake catalog statistics and local paleoseismological data indicates a better fit with the FtF rupture set constructed with a distance criteria based on 5 km rather than 3 km, suggesting a high connectivity of faults in the WCR fault system.

International audience; We present the first 3 months of aftershock activity following the 2015 April 25 Gorkha earthquake M w 7.8 recorded on the Nepalese Seismic network. We deployed an automatic procedure composed of three main stages: (1) coarse determination of the P and S onsets; (2) phase association to declare events and (3) iterative addition and refinement of onsets using the Kurtosis characteristic function. In total 9188 events could be located in the Kathmandu region with the majority having small location errors (

International audience; Dynamic triggering has been commonly observed after large teleseismic events, but the physics behind it is still under debate. To broaden observations, we here focus on the dynamic triggering by regional earthquakes, that is, by events with magnitude lower than 6.2 at distances smaller than 600 km. The western part of the Corinth Rift (Greece) is characterized by intense seismic swarms and is therefore adapted to study such responses. The microseismicity rates before and after the transient perturbations are high enough to analyze 30 regional earthquakes out of the 59 occurring in 2013. More than 40% of those 30 events, including earthquakes with magnitude as small as 4.5, are associated with a significant seismicity rate increase. The triggerability primarily depends on the amplitude of the seismic waves. However, triggering is mainly observed when the seismic perturbations are orthogonal to the faults, which suggests that fluid pressurization is likely involved.

International audience; The midcrustal seismicity along the Main Himalayan Thrust in Nepal presents lateral variations along the rupture of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. In order to resolve these variations, we relocate the seismicity north of Kathman-du, during a period well covered by the Nepal National Seismological Network, using a double-difference algorithm. The 550 relocated events highlight a complex pattern of clustered seismicity within the unstable-stable transition zone. Part of the seismicity is densely clustered on a southward dipping plane which ruptured on Jan-uary 31st 1997 (ML = 5.8), activating a backthrust with a geometry consistent with the centroid moment tensor of this event calculated in this study. At its eastern end, the midcrustal cluster is offset by 20 km to the south suggesting the presence of a tear fault. The analysis of the time sequence allows constraining a scenario involving stress transfer between these local midcrustal structures, beginning more than one month before the 1997 main shock. The temporal evolution of the seismicity is strikingly similar for two other transient seismic swarm episodes which developed hundreds of kilometers apart along the Main Himalayan Thrust at the same time. The local stress field appears responsible for the higher sensitivity of these regions to subtle strain transients developing along the Main Himalayan Thrust.

International audience; Three years of continuous waveform data recorded at 22 stations from the Corinth Rift Laboratory and the Hellenic Unified Seismological Network are used to perform an ambient noise surface-wave tomography of the western Corinth Rift. All available vertical component time-series were cross-correlated to extract empirical Rayleigh-wave Green's functions. Group velocity dispersion curves were measured for each station-pair by applying frequency-time analysis and then inverted to build 2D group velocity maps between 1 and 6 s period. Finally, we locally inverted these velocity maps using a neighborhood algorithm to assess the 3D shear-velocity model of the shallow crustal structure of the western Corinth Rift. Across all studied periods the southern coast of the Corinth Gulf is generally imaged as a region of lower velocities compared to the northern coast. At periods up to 3 s, the spatial variation of the group velocities is correlated with the surface geology of the area. Lower velocities are observed in areas where mostly Plio-Quaternary syn-rift sediments are present, such as off-shore regions of the rift, the Mornos delta and the largest part of the southern coast. Higher velocities are observed in pre-rift basement structures which are dominated mostly by carbonates. At periods above 3 s, where Rayleigh-waves begin to sense deeper structures below the sediments within the underlying basement, our study highlights the presence of a distinct zone of lower velocities across the southern part of the rift with an elongation in the WNW-ESE direction. The interpretation of this low velocity includes two arguments, the present-day active tectonic regime and the possible involvement of fluids circulation processes at depth within a highly fractured upper crust in the vicinity of the major faults zones. In general, the results demonstrate good agreement with the major geological and tectonic features of the area, as well as with previous local earthquake tomography studies and support the assumption of fluid circulations at depth. This work intends to be the base for further investigations towards the study of the Corinth Rift structure using long-time series of ambient noise data.

International audience; The depth of 61 aftershocks of the 2015 April 25 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake, that occurred within the first 20 d following the main shock, is constrained using time delays between teleseismic P phases and depth phases (pP and sP). The detection and identification of these phases are automatically processed using the cepstral method developed by Letort et al., and are validated with computed radiation patterns from the most probable focal mechanisms. The events are found to be relatively shallow (13.1 ± 3.9 km). Because depth estimations could potentially be biased by the method, velocity model or selected data, we also evaluate the depth resolution of the events from local catalogues by extracting 138 events with assumed well-constrained depth estimations. Comparison between the teleseismic depths and the depths from local and regional catalogues helps decrease epistemic uncertainties, and shows that the seismicity is clustered in a narrow band between 10 and 15 km depth. Given the geometry and depth of the major tectonic structures, most aftershocks are probably located in the immediate vicinity of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) shear zone. The mid-crustal ramp of the flat/ramp MHT system is not resolved indicating that its height is moderate (less than 5−10 km) in the trace of the sections that ruptured on April 25. However, the seismicity depth range widens and deepens through an adjacent section to the east, a region that failed on 2015 May 12 during an M w 7.3 earthquake. This deeper seismicity could reflect a step-down of the basal detachment of the MHT, a lateral structural variation which probably acted as a barrier to the dynamic rupture propagation.

New GPS measurements in Chiapas (Mexico), Guatemala and El Salvador are used to constrain the fault kinematics in the North America (NA), Caribbean (CA) and Cocos (CO) plates triple junction area. The regional GPS velocity field is first analysed in terms of strain partitioning across the major volcano-tectonic structures, using elastic half-space modelling, then inverted through a block model. We show the dominant role of the Motagua Fault with respect to the Polochic Fault in the accommodation of the present-day deformation associated with the NA and CA relative motion. The NA/CA motion decreases from 18-22 mm yr−1 in eastern Guatemala to 14-20 mm yr−1 in central Guatemala (assuming a uniform locking depth of 14-28 km), down to a few millimetres per year in western Guatemala. As a consequence, the western tip of the CA Plate deforms internally, with ≃9 mm yr−1 of east-west extension (≃5 mm yr−1 across the Guatemala city graben alone). Up to 15 mm yr−1 of dextral motion can be accommodated across the volcanic arc in El Salvador and southeastern Guatemala. The arc seems to mark the northern boundary of an independent forearc sliver (AR), pinned to the NA plate. The inversion of the velocity field shows that a four-block (NA, CA, CO and AR) model, that combines relative block rotations with elastic deformation at the block boundaries, can account for most of the GPS observations and constrain the overall kinematics of the active structures. This regional modelling also evidences lateral variations of coupling at the CO subduction interface, with a fairly high-coupling (≃0.6) offshore Chiapas and low-coupling (≃0.25) offshore Guatemala and El Salvador.

International audience; Large earthquakes produce crustal deformation that can be quantified by geodetic measurements, allowing for the determination of the slip distribution on the fault. We used data from Global Positioning System (GPS) networks in Central Chile to infer the static deformation and the kinematics of the 2010 moment magnitude (M-w) 8.8 Maule megathrust earthquake. From elastic modeling, we found a total rupture length of similar to 500 kilometers where slip (up to 15 meters) concentrated on two main asperities situated on both sides of the epicenter. We found that rupture reached shallow depths, probably extending up to the trench. Resolvable afterslip occurred in regions of low coseismic slip. The low-frequency hypocenter is relocated 40 kilometers southwest of initial estimates. Rupture propagated bilaterally at about 3.1 kilometers per second, with possible but not fully resolved velocity variations.

International audience; The Corinth Rift is the most seismically active zone in Europe. The area is characterized by very localized NSextension at a rate of1.5cm/year, the occurrence of frequent and intensive microseismic crises and occasionalmoderate to large earthquakes like in 1995 (Mw=6.1).Since the year 2000, the Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL, http://crlab.eu) consisting in a multidisciplinary naturalobservatory, aims at understanding the mechanics of faulting and earthquake nucleation in the Rift. Recent studieshave improved our view about fault geometry and mechanics within CRL, but there is still a critical need for a betterknowledge of the structure at depth both for the accuracy of earthquake locations and for mechanical interpretationof the seismicity.In this project, we aim to analyze the complete seismological database (13 years of recordings) of CRL by usingrecently developed methodologies of structural imaging, in order to determine at the same time and with highresolution, the local 3D structure and the earthquake locations.We perform an iterative joint determination of 3D velocity model and earthquake coordinates. In a first step, Pand S velocity models are determined using first arrival time tomography method proposed by Taillandier et al.(2009). It consists in the minimization of the cost function between observed and theoretical arrival times which isachieved by the steepest descent method (e.g. Tarantola 1987). This latter requires computing the gradient of thecost function by using the adjoint state method (Chavent 1974). In a second step, earthquakes are located in thenew velocity model with a non-linear inversion method based on a Bayesian formulation (Gesret et al. 2015). Step1 and 2 are repeated until the cost function no longer decreases.We present preliminary results consisting in: (1) the adjustement of a 1D velocity model that is used as initialmodel of the 3D tomography and (2) a first attempt of the joint determination of 3D velocity model and earthquakelocation.In addition to the tomographic imaging, we perform a preliminary receiver function analysis of teleseismic datarecorded by the broadband stations of the CRL network. The RF analysis should provide the interface depthsbeneath seismometers and increase the imaging resolution of the upper crustal structures provided by the 3Dtomography. In this first attempt, we adjust the 1D velocity model that produces a synthetic RF as similar aspossible to the observed RF for a subset of data. We compare the identified interfaces with structures imaged bythe tomography.

We determine the velocities in an upper crustal model, composed of three homogeneous layers, for one subregion of the western part of the Gulf of Corinth, NE of the town of Aigion, Greece. We have used local events that occurred there in the year 2001 and were recorded by the Corinth Rift Laboratory Network. Weighted P and S arrival time residuals are minimized using the Neighbourhood Algorithm of Sambridge (1999), combined with the grid search for source locations. The resolution of the inversion is tested by delete-one jackknifing. The model obtained is compared with some other models derived or applied to the subregion. A fast velocity increase between depths of 5 and 7 km is confirmed as the major structural element.

International audience; Microseismic multiplets occurring in the western Corinth rift, Greece, during a large swarm are analyzed to retrieve their spatiotemporal characteristics. These multiplets activated small subfaults at depth (∼7 km), up to 1 km long, at the root of two parallel active normal faults. The swarm migrates westward nearly horizontally over 10 km at an average velocity of 50 m/d with a diffusivity of 0.5 m2 s−1. It successively activates the Aigion fault, a relay zone in its hanging wall, and the Fassouleika fault. Within each multiplet, hypocenters also migrate with diffusivities ranging from 0.001 to 0.4 m2 s−1. The largest internal diffusivities appear at the core of the layer defined by the clusters. These results are interpreted as a hydroshear process caused by pore pressure migration within permeable corridors resulting from the intersection of the major faults with a brittle geological layer inherited from the Hellenic nappe stack.

International audience; The Corinth Rift in Central Greece has been studied extensively during the past decades, as it is one of the most seismically active regions in Europe. It is characterized by normal faulting and extension rates between 6 and 15 mm yr−1 in an approximately N10E° direction. On 2013 May 21, an earthquake swarm was initiated with a series of small events 4 km southeast of Aigion city. In the next days, the seismic activity became more intense, with outbursts of several stronger events of magnitude between 3.3 and 3.7. The seismicity migrated towards the east during June, followed by a sudden activation of the western part of the swarm on July 15th. More than 1500 events have been detected and manually analysed during the period between 2013 May 21 and August 31, using over 15 local stations in epicentral distances up to 30 km and a local velocity model determined by an error minimization method. Waveform similarity-based analysis was performed, revealing several distinct multiplets within the earthquake swarm. High-resolution relocation was applied using the double-difference algorithm HypoDD, incorporating both catalogue and cross-correlation differential traveltime data, which managed to separate the initial seismic cloud into several smaller, densely concentrated spatial clusters of strongly correlated events. Focal mechanism solutions for over 170 events were determined using P-wave first motion polarities, while regional waveform modelling was applied for the calculation of moment tensors for the 18 largest events of the sequence. Selected events belonging to common spatial groups were considered for the calculation of composite mechanisms to characterize different parts of the swarm. The solutions are mainly in agreement with the regional NNE–SSW extension, representing typical normal faulting on 30–50° north-dipping planes, while a few exhibit slip in an NNE–SSW direction, on a roughly subhorizontal plane. Moment magnitudes were calculated by spectral analysis of S waves, yielding b-values between 1.1 and 1.2 in their frequency–magnitude distribution. The seismic moment release history indicates swarm-like activity during the first phase, which could have acted as a preparatory stage for the second phase (after 12 July) that presented a more typical main-shock–aftershock behaviour. The spatiotemporal analysis reveals that the swarm has occurred in a volume that is likely related with the extension at depth of the NNE-dipping Pirgaki normal fault, outcropping ∼8 km to the south. The slow velocity of eastward migration of the epicentres during June implies triggering by fluids. The situation appears different in the second phase of the sequence, which was probably triggered by a build-up of stress during the first one. The relatively deep hypocentres of the 2013 swarm, compared to the shallower seismic layer within the rift, and their coincidence with the steeply dipping Pirgaki fault, favour an immature rift detachment model. Previous results from instrumental data indicate that approximately the same region had been activated during July–August 1991. The availability of the dense permanent seismological network data thus allowed for a detailed analysis of this crisis, a better understanding of its mechanical context and of the earlier events.

International audience; As the first large subduction thrust earthquake off the coast of western Guatemala in the past several decades, the 2012 November 7 M w = 7.4 earthquake offers the first opportunity to study coseismic and postseismic behaviour along a segment of the Middle America trench where frictional coupling makes a transition from weak coupling off the coast of El Salvador to strong coupling in southern Mexico. We use measurements at 19 continuous GPS sites in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico to estimate the coseismic slip and postseismic deformation of the November 2012 Champerico (Guatemala) earthquake. An inversion of the coseismic offsets, which range up to ∼47 mm at the surface near the epicentre, indicates that up to ∼2 m of coseismic slip occurred on a ∼30 × 30 km rupture area between ∼10 and 30 km depth, which is near the global CMT centroid. The geodetic moment of 13 × 10 19 N m and corresponding magnitude of 7.4 both agree well with independent seismological estimates. Transient postseismic deformation that was recorded at 11 GPS sites is attributable to a combination of fault afterslip and viscoelastic flow in the lower crust and/or mantle. Modelling of the viscoelastic deformation suggests that it constituted no more than ∼30 per cent of the short-term postseismic deformation. GPS observations that extend six months after the earthquake are well fit by a model in which most afterslip occurred at the same depth or directly downdip from the rupture zone and released energy equivalent to no more than ∼20 per cent of the coseismic moment. An independent seismological slip solution that features more highly concentrated coseismic slip than our own fits the GPS offsets well if its slip centroid is translated ∼50 km to the west to a position close to our slip centroid. The geodetic and seismologic slip solutions thus suggest bounds of 2-7 m for the peak slip along a region of the interface no larger than 30 × 30 km.

International audience; This paper describes the development of the CORSSA array (CORinth Soft Soil Array) in the framework of the European project CORSEIS, which takes place in the highly seismic region of Aegion, in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. An array of surface and down-hole accelerometers and pore pressure transducers is deployed in the hanging wall of the Aegion Fault, an active normal tectonic feature that crosses Aegion city. The scope of this array is to study the physics of wave propagation, the non-linear soil behaviour, liquefaction phenomena and the effects of surface geology on strong ground motion. The surface geology is well constrained by a detailed geotechnical and geophysical survey including dynamic soil tests. Typical recordings and preliminary 1D SH ground response analyses are presented herein, illustrating the importance of the experimental array to study complex site effects including non-linear phenomena in the vicinity of faults and topographic relief.

We study the possible seismic gap in the Concepcion–Constitucion region of south-central Chile and the nature of the M = 7.8 earthquake of January 1939. From 1 March to 31 May 1996 a seismic network of 26 short period digital instruments was deployed in this area. We located 379 hypocenters with rms travel time residuals of less than 0.50 s using an approximate velocity distribution. Using the VELEST program, we improved the velocity model and located 240 high precision hypocenters with residuals less than 0.2 s. The large majority of earthquakes occurred along the Wadati–Benioff zone along the upper part of the downgoing slab under central Chile. A few shallow events were recorded near the chain of active volcanos on the Andes; these events are similar to those of Las Melozas near Santiago. A few events took place at the boundary between the coastal ranges and the central valley. Well constrained fault plane solutions could be computed for 32 of the 240 well located events. Most of the earthquakes located on the Wadati–Benioff zone had “slab-pull” fault mechanism due to tensional stresses sub-parallel to the downgoing slab. This “slab-pull” mechanism is the same as that of eight earthquakes of magnitude around 6 that are listed in the CMT catalog of Harvard University for the period 1980–1998. This is also the mechanism inferred for the large 1939 Chilean earthquake. A very small number of events in the Benioff zone had “slab-push” mechanisms, that is events whose pressureaxis is aligned with the slab. These events are found in double layered Wadati–Benioff zones, such as in northern Chile or Japan. Our spatial resolution is not good enough to detect the presence of a double layer, but we suspect there may be one. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; The 2008 Mw = 6.4 Movri earthquake ruptured a NNE right lateral strike-slip fault about 30 km south of the city of Patras. Although some strike-slip activity on minor faults was known, there was no tectonic evidence of large scale NS striking fault and such a large event was not anticipated. Following the event, a network of six stations was installed for 4 months in the epicentral area in order to monitor aftershocks and in particular the northern part of the rupture area closest to the city of Patras. We combine these new aftershock observations with GPS measurements of an already existing geodetic network in the area performed just after the earthquake, as well as with SAR interferograms, together with already published source studies, in order to refine already proposed models of this event. The combined data set allows defining much more accurately the lateral and vertical limits of the rupture. Its length inferred from geodesy is ∼15 km and its modelled upper edge ∼17 km. The seismic moment then constrains the lower edge to coincide, within a few kilometres, with the Moho interface. The absence of seismicity in the shallow crust above the co-seismic fault is interpreted as a result of the decoupling effect of possible presence of salt layers above the rupture area, near 14 to 16 km in depth, which favours our interpretation of an immature strike-slip fault system, compatible with the absence of surface ruptures. The immature character of this large crustal fault is further suggested by the high variability of focal mechanisms and of fault geometries deduced from aftershock clusters, in the strike direction. Its geometry and mechanism is consistent with the crustal shear, striking NNE, revealed by GPS in this region. This shear and faulting activity might be generated by the differential slip rate on the subduction interface, 50 km to the south, leading to a north-northeastward propagating strike-slip fault zone. The wide extension of the aftershock distribution forming a NNE alignment, beyond the rupture area towards the north, suggests a localization process of the shear strain, which could be the preliminary stage of fault propagation further to the NNE. An alternative speculative model for this regional stress could be the existence of a well-developed NNE striking shear zone within the uppermost mantle, marking at depth the southward propagation of the northern branch of the North Anatolian fault. Both models may not be exclusive of each other, and in fact their sources may be mechanically interdependent.

International audience; The seismic activity in the western part of the Corinth Rift (Greece) over the period 2000– 2007, monitored by a dense network of three-component stations, is analysed in terms of multiplets and high precision relocation using double difference techniques. This detailed analysis provides new insights into the geometry of faults at depth, the nature and the structure of the active zone at 6–8 km depth previously interpreted as a possible detachment, and more generally into the rifting process. The seismicity exhibits a complex structure, strongly varying along the rift axis. The detailed picture of the seismic zone below the rift indicates that its shallower part (at depths of 6–8 km) is 1–1.5 km thick with a complex microstructure, and that its deeper part (at depths of 9–12 km) gently dipping to the north (10–20°) is 0.1–0.3 km thick with a microstructure consistent with the general slope of the structure. Although the nature of this seismic zone remains an open question, the presence of seismicity beneath the main active area, the strong variability of the structure along the rift over short distances and the complex microstructure of the shallower part revealed by the multiplet analysis are arguments against the hypothesis of a mature detachment under the rift: this active zone more likely represents a layer of diffuse deformation. The geometry of the mapped active faults is not well defined at depth, as no seismicity is observed between 0 and 4 km, except for the Aigion Fault rooting in the seismic layer at 6 km depth with a dip of 60°. A distinct cloud of seismicity may be associated with the antithetic Kalithea Fault, on which the 1909 Fokis earthquake (M s = 6.3) may have occurred. The link between the 1995 rupture (M s = 6.2) and the faults known at the surface has been better constrained, as the relocated seismicity favours a rupture on an offshore, blind fault dipping at 30° , rather than on the deeper part of the East Helike Fault. Consequently, the 1995 event is expected to have decreased the Coulomb stress on the East Helike Fault. To explain these seismic observations along with the geodetic observations, a new mechanical model for the rifting process in this region is proposed, involving non-elastic, mostly aseismic uniform NS opening below the rift axis, coupled with the downward and northward growth of a yet immature detachment: the reported GPS rates would mainly result from this deep, silent source, and the seismicity would reveal the detachment position, not yet connected to the ductile lower crust. In such a model, the strong fluctuations of microseismicity would result from small strain instabilities, undetected by continuous GPS and possibly related to pore pressure transients.

International audience; The composite fault plane solutions for 24 large multiplets recorded in the western part of the Corinth Rift between 2000 and 2007 are computed by jointly inverting P polarities and Sv/P, Sh/P, Sv/Sh amplitude ratios of the direct waves. The fault plane solutions are determined using 1-D and 3-D velocity models. Solutions computed with the 3-D velocity model are preferred to the ones computed with the 1-D model because overall, 3-D solutions have a better score function. They correspond essentially to E–NE/W–SW and W–NW/E–SE striking normal faults, which is consistent with the N–S extensional/vertical shortening tectonic regime of the area. For 15 multiplets, one of the nodal planes is similar to the plane delineated by the earthquakes. It is then possible to determine which nodal plane is the fault plane. The analysis of the fault plane solutions highlights a clear decrease of their dip with depth and towards the north. Several multiplets with steeply dipping fault planes (50°–60°) located at depths of 7–8 km are clearly located at the base of onshore and offshore faults that crop out close to the south border of the Corinth Gulf, indicating that these faults are steep down to 7–8 km depth. To the north, multiplets underline a low angle north-dipping structure (20°–30°) on which steep north-dipping faults could take root.

We present the results of a multidisciplinary study of the Ms = 6.2, 1995, June 15, Aigion earthquake (Gulf of Corinth, Greece). In order to constrain the rupture geometry, we used all available data from seismology (local, regional and teleseismic records of the mainshock and of aftershocks), geodesy (GPS and SAR interferometry), and tectonics. Part of these data were obtained during a postseismic field study consisting of the surveying of 24 GPS points, the temporary installation of 20 digital seismometers, and a detailed field investigation for surface fault break. The Aigion fault was the only fault onland which showed detectable breaks (< 4 cm). We relocated the mainshock hypocenter at 10 km in depth, 38 ° 21.7 ′ N, 22 ° 12.0 ′ E, about 15 km NNE to the damaged city of Aigion. The modeling of teleseismic P and SH waves provides a seismic moment Mo = 3.4 1018 N.m, a well constrained focal mechanism (strike 277 °, dip 33 °, rake − 77°), at a centroidal depth of 7.2 km, consistent with the NEIC and the revised Harvard determinations. It thus involved almost pure normal faulting in agreement with the tectonics of the Gulf. The horizontal GPS displacements corrected for the opening of the gulf (1.5 cm/year) show a well-resolved 7 cm northward motion above the hypocenter, which eliminates the possibility of a steep, south-dipping fault plane. Fitting the S-wave polarization at SERG, 10 km from the epicenter, with a 33° northward dipping plane implies a hypocentral depth greater than 10 km. The north dipping fault plane provides a poor fit to the GPS data at the southern points when a homogeneous elastic half-space is considered: the best fit geodetic model is obtained for a fault shallower by 2 km, assuming the same dip. We show with a two-dimensional model that this depth difference is probably due to the distorting effect of the shallow, low-rigidity sediments of the gulf and of its edges. The best-fit fault model, with dimensions 9 km E–W and 15 km along dip, and a 0.87 m uniform slip, fits InSAR data covering the time of the earthquake. The fault is located about 10 km east-northeast to the Aigion fault, whose surface breaks thus appears as secondary features. The rupture lasted 4 to 5 s, propagating southward and upward on a fault probably outcropping offshore, near the southern edge of the gulf. In the shallowest 4 km, the slip – if any – has not exceeded about 30 cm. This geometry implies a large directivity effect in Aigion, in agreement with the accelerogram aig which shows a short duration (2 s) and a large amplitude (0.5 g) of the direct S acceleration. This unusual low-angle normal faulting may have been favoured by a low-friction, high pore pressure fault zone, or by a rotation of the stress directions due to the possible dip towards the south of the brittle-ductile transition zone. This fault cannot be responsible for the long term topography of the rift, which is controlled by larger normal faults with larger dip angles, implying either a seldom, or a more recently started activity of such low angle faults in the central part of the rift.

A strong (Mw = 8.1) subduction earthquake occurred on July 30, 1995 in Antofagasta (northern Chile). This is one of the largest events during this century in the region. It ruptured the southernmost portion of a seismic gap between 18°S and 25°S. In 1992 we had used GPS to survey a network with about 50 benchmarks covering a region nearly 500 km long (N-S) and 200 km wide (E-W). Part of these marks were re-surveyed with GPS after the 1995 earthquake. Comparison with 1992 positions indicate relative horizontal displacement towards the trench reaching 0.7 m. The inland subsided several decimeters. The Mejillones Peninsula was uplifted by more than 15 cm. Teleseismic body-wave modelling of VBB records gives a subduction focal mechanism and source time function with three distinct episodes of moment release and southward directivity. Modelling the displacement field using a dislocation with uniform slip in elastic half-space suggests a rupture zone with 19°–24° eastward dip extending to a depth no greater than 50 km with N-S length of 180 km and an average slip of about 5 m. The component of right-lateral slip inferred both from the teleseismic and geodetic data does not require slip partitioning at the plate boundary. That the well-constrained northern end of the 1995 rupture zone lies under the southern part of the Mejillones Peninsula increases the probability for a next rupture in the gap north of it.

We document geodetic strain across the Nepal Himalaya using GPS times series from 30 stations in Nepal and southern Tibet, in addition to previously published campaign GPS points and leveling data and determine the pattern of interseismic coupling on the Main Himalayan Thrust fault (MHT). The noise on the daily GPS positions is modeled as a combination of white and colored noise, in order to infer secular velocities at the stations with consistent uncertainties. We then locate the pole of rotation of the Indian plate in the ITRF 2005 reference frame at longitude = − 1.34° ± 3.31°, latitude = 51.4° ± 0.3° with an angular velocity of Ω = 0.5029 ± 0.0072°/Myr. The pattern of coupling on the MHT is computed on a fault dipping 10° to the north and whose strike roughly follows the arcuate shape of the Himalaya. The model indicates that the MHT is locked from the surface to a distance of approximately 100 km down dip, corresponding to a depth of 15 to 20 km. In map view, the transition zone between the locked portion of the MHT and the portion which is creeping at the long term slip rate seems to be at the most a few tens of kilometers wide and coincides with the belt of midcrustal microseismicity underneath the Himalaya. According to a previous study based on thermokinematic modeling of thermochronological and thermobarometric data, this transition seems to happen in a zone where the temperature reaches 350°C. The convergence between India and South Tibet proceeds at a rate of 17.8 ± 0.5 mm/yr in central and eastern Nepal and 20.5 ± 1 mm/yr in western Nepal. The moment deficit due to locking of the MHT in the interseismic period accrues at a rate of 6.6 ± 0.4 × 10^(19) Nm/yr on the MHT underneath Nepal. For comparison, the moment released by the seismicity over the past 500 years, including 14 M_W ≥ 7 earthquakes with moment magnitudes up to 8.5, amounts to only 0.9 × 10^(19) Nm/yr, indicating a large deficit of seismic slip over that period or very infrequent large slow slip events. No large slow slip event has been observed however over the 20 years covered by geodetic measurements in the Nepal Himalaya. We discuss the magnitude and return period of M > 8 earthquakes required to balance the long term slip budget on the MHT.

[1] The 27 February 2010 Maule, Chile (Mw=8.8) earthquake is one of the best instrumentally observed subduction zone megathrust events. Here we present locations, magnitudes and cumulative equivalent moment of the first ∼2 months of aftershocks, recorded on a temporary network deployed within 2 weeks of the occurrence of the mainshock. Using automatically-determined onset times and a back projection approach for event association, we are able to detect over 30,000 events in the time period analyzed. To further increase the location accuracy, we systematically searched for potential S-wave arrivals and events were located in a regional 2D velocity model. Additionally, we calculated regional moment tensors to gain insight into the deformation history of the aftershock sequence. We find that the aftershock seismicity is concentrated between 40 and 140 km distance from the trench over a depth range of 10 to 35 km. Focal mechanisms indicate a predominance of thrust faulting, with occasional normal faulting events. Increased activity is seen in the outer-rise region of the Nazca plate, predominantly in the northern part of the rupture area. Further down-dip, a second band of clustered seismicity, showing mainly thrust motion, is located at depths of 40–45 km. By comparing recent published mainshock source inversions with our aftershock distribution, we discriminate slip models based on the assumption that aftershocks occur in areas of rapid transition between high and low slip, surrounding high-slip regions of the mainshock.

[1] The analysis of temporal variations in the seismic velocity across faults can be used to estimate in situ stress changes. Seismic velocity of propagation depends on the fault stiffness, which is a function of stress. The coda wave interferometry technique is applied to seven families of repeating earthquakes (multiplets) recorded on the southern shore of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, to estimate high precision velocity changes in the Earth's crust associated with the Mw = 4.3 Agios Ioanis earthquake. Results show that the Agios Ioanis event causes a perturbation in elastic properties at seismogenic depth, resulting in a reduction of 0.2% in the seismic velocity. The results are not consistent with either damage induced by dynamic stresses nor a fluid transient origin. In contrast, both the spatial distribution and magnitude of the velocity perturbation correlate well with modeled static stress variations. This suggests that the measured changes in the mechanical properties of the seismogenic crust can be attributed to a change in static stress field associated with the Mw = 4.3 Agios Ioanis earthquake. The velocity changes indicate an unclamping of the Pyrgaki fault at depth, which has local hazard implications.

SUMMARY Seismological data collected during the summer of 1988 are presented and analysed to discuss the microearthquake deformation in western Crete (Greece). The experiment consisted, in a dense network, of 34 stations (5 km interstation spacing) among them 13 three-component digital stations. The seismicity is essentially localized between 0 and 15 km and suggests a deformation of Crete decoupled from the subducting plate which shows a very low seismicity. The fault plane solutions are constrained by combining the information from P-wave polarities with that from horizontal directions of S-wave polarizations using the probabilistic approach developed by Zollo & Bernard (1991). Among the 16 fault plane solutions calculated, there are essentially two families: normal faulting on planes oriented NS and strike-slip faulting. Both have a horizontal SE to NE oriented tension axis. The mean direction of the T-axis confirms the E-W extension of this part of the Hellenic arc where observations at larger scale are available (active and Holocene fault scarps and fault plane solution of one teleseismic event). Observations of elliptical polarizations of S-waves at two stations suggest the presence of a shallow low-velocity anisotropic layer. Assuming a model of vertical cracks, this anisotropy would imply that the cracks be oriented N145-170". This direction of aligned cracks is consistent with the regional E-W oriented extension as determined by the fault plane solutions.

We report results from a six-month seismological experiment in the area of the eastern Polochic-Motagua fault system (Guatemala) designed to both characterize the present seismicity and bring some constraints on the lithospheric structure. The seismic activity occurs in the upper 15 km of the crust, on the Polochic and the Motagua faults as well as in a NS-trending graben south of the Motagua fault and within the active folds north of the Polochic fault. From receiver function analysis the Moho discontinuity is found at about 35 km depth north of the Polochic fault and south of the Motagua fault, while the region in between is characterized by a 4-to-6-km thinner crust or by a 6–7% decrease of the Vp / Vs ratio. The more than 2,000-km-long, mostly submarine, left-lateral strike-slip boundary between the North American and the Caribbean plates continues on land with the Polochic-Motagua fault system mainly located in Guatemala (Figure 1). This fault system accommodates 20 mm/yr of left lateral strike-slip movement ( e.g. , Lyon-Caen et al. 2006) and includes three major convex subparallel EW-trending faults which are, from north to south, the Polochic, the Motagua, and the Jocotan. Both the Polochic and Motagua faults show evidence of recent activity in their historical seismicity (Table 1; and see also Carr and Stoiber 1977; White and Harlow 1993; Ambraseys and Adams 2001) and their morphology ( e.g. , Burkart and Self 1985, Schwartz et al. 1979). South of the Motagua fault, a series of NS-trending grabens extends from the Honduras depression on the Caribbean Coast of Honduras to the Guatemala graben in the center of Guatemala. The last large earthquake ( Mw ∼7.5) in Guatemala occurred in February 1976, ruptured 230 km of the Motagua fault with an average slip observed at the surface of 1.4 m …

The New Guinea Highlands form an active thrust belt advancing southward over the Australian continental margin. Surface geology indicates thin-skinned deformation of sediments and continental basement, building mountains 2–4 km in average elevation. The depth of the adjacent foreland basin is no more than 1500 m in Papua New Guinea and in many places only 100–200 m, indicating little deflection of the Australian lithosphere beneath the load of the mountains. Calculations of elastic loading, in which the topographic load of the entire mountain range is supported by Australian lithosphere of uniform flexural rigidity (D), predict a basin 2–10 times deeper than observed in eastern New Guinea for a wide range of flexural rigidities (1021–1025 Nm). Bouguer gravity anomalies in the eastern highlands between 143°E and 144°E are consistent with local Airy compensation of the mountains, and preclude a continuous plate with D > 1022 Nm underlying any significant portion of the mountains. In contrast, the observed broad foredeep flexure in central New Guinea near 141°–142°E requires a strong lithosphere (D = 1024–1025 Nm), and limited gravity and sediment thickness observations farther west indicate similar flexural rigidities. Bouguer gravity measurements and observed foreland basin depths throughout New Guinea can be explained by a strong and continuous lithosphere beneath the foreland basin extending no more than 20–60 km north of the range front, implying that the plate has weakened beneath the thrust belt. Collateral evidence for plate weakening beneath the highlands may be found in earthquakes at 10–25 km depth with high-angle thrust mechanisms and in widespread Quaternary volcanism throughout the eastern thrust belt. A 50-mGal positive residual anomaly over the northern 100 km of the eastern highlands cannot be explained by local compensation or mechanical support from the south, indicating either a large excess mass at depth or some additional form of support for the northeastern highlands. The gravity observations in eastern New Guinea require 10–15 km of crustal thickening, but observed sediment thicknesses can only account for 0–5 km, necessitating 5–15 km of thickening in the basement.

Bouguer gravity anomalies over the Tien Shan and Pamir are large and negative, and therefore consistent with crustal thickening beneath both mountain ranges. Gravity anomalies over the western Tien Shan are within about 10 mgal of those expected for local Airy isostatic equilibrium, but those over the eastern Tien Shan are up to 50 mgal too large and negative. Thus they require static or dynamic support of an uncompensated mass deficit. These gravity anomalies cannot be matched using regional compensation of the weight of the range on a continuous elastic plate. A simple model of two separate elastic plates extending north and south from the axis of the Tien Shan can allow an adequate fit of observed and calculated anomalies. The flexural rigidity of the northern plate must be quite small (D < 1023 N m, corresponding to an equivalent effective elastic thicknessTE < 25 km), but that of the southern plate must be larger (D ≈ 1024 N m, TE ≈ 50–60 km). The data for the eastern Tien Shan cannot be fit without a force per unit length of roughly 1–4 × 1012 N, or by a bending moment, applied to the end of the southern plate. Thus either a deep mass per unit length of about 1–4 × 1011 kg/m must underlie the eastern part of the range, or dynamic (deviatoric tensional) normal stresses of up to about 5 MPa, due to flow in the asthenosphere, must pull the Tien Shan down. Probably a combination of them, resulting from the formation and sinking of a thickened lithospheric root, causes the deflection of the Moho and the deviations from local isostatic equilibrium.

International audience; The western part of the Gulf of Corinth attracts attention due to its seismically active fault system and considerable seismic hazard. Detailed studies of the seismic activity of the region have been carried out especially as part of the so-called Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL) Project. For standard earthquake locations, the CRL uses the HYPO algorithm and a special structural model that is composed of homogeneous layers (Rigo et al., 1996). This model was derived from a passive seismic experiment in a broader area around the western part of the Gulf. A significant part of the seismic activity is concentrated close to the town of Aigion, which was damaged by a strong earthquake in 1995. A sequence of smaller earthquakes occurred to the south of this town in the year 2001. In the present paper, we have used this sequence to derive an improved structural model for the region in the vicinity of the town of Aigion. This new model is based on the minimization of travel-time residuals. In particular, we used arrival times from a subset of 88 events recorded by at least 5 stations of the southern part of the CRL network, had magnitudes of over 2.3, and were recorded at the nearest station (station code AIO). A variant of the method of conjugate gradients has been used for this purpose. In comparison with the model derived by Rigo et al. (1996), the new model is characterized by a higher νP/νS velocity ratio and by higher velocities to a depth of about 7 km. The new model was derived with the aim to get more accurate locations of future events in the vicinity of the town of Aigion

[1] The Polochic-Motagua strike-slip fault system in Guatemala marks the on-land plate boundary between the North American (NA) and the Caribbean (CA) plates. GPS observations in 1999 and 2003 show that the far-field velocity across the system (NA-CA relative velocity) is ∼20 mm/yr. This is significantly higher than the NUVEL-1A velocity but is consistent with the GPS based CA-NA velocity proposed by DeMets et al. (2000). The observations are modeled by a fault centered on the Motagua fault, locked at a depth of 20 km, with a slip-rate decreasing from eastern to central Guatemala from 20 to 12 mm/yr towards the NA-CA-Cocos triple junction. This decrease is accommodated by ∼8 mm/yr of E-W extension in the westernmost part of CA south of the Motagua fault. About 10 mm/yr of dextral slip is observed across the Mid-American Volcanic Arc. The NA-CA-Cocos triple junction is thus a complex, ∼400 km-wide wedge-shaped area.

International audience; An earthquake sequence comprising almost 2000 events occurred in February–July 2001 on the southern coast of the Corinth Gulf.Several location methods were applied to 171 events recorded by the regional network PATNET. The unavailability of S-wave readings precluded from reliable depth determination. For the mainshock of April 8, ML= 4.7, the depth varied from 0 to 20 km. The amplitude spectra of complete waveforms at three local stations (KER,SER, DES; epicentral distances 17, 26 and 56 km) were inverted between 0.1 and 0.2 Hz for double-couple focal mechanism and also for the depth. The optimum solution (strike 220°, dip 40°, rake ‒160°, and depth of 8 km) was validated by forward waveform modeling.Additionally, the mainshock depth was further supported by the P- and S-wave arrival times from the local short-period network CRLNET (Corinth Rift Laboratory).The scalar seismic moment was 2.5e15 Nm,and the moment rate function was successfully simulated by a triangle of the 0.5 second duration. This is equivalent to a 1–1.5 km fault length, and a static stress drop 2–6 MPa. This value is important for future strong ground motion simulation of damaging earthquakes in Aegion region, whose subevents may be modeled according to the studied event. The T axis of the mainshock (azimuth 176° and plunge 67°), is consistent with the regional direction of extension ∼N10°. However, none of the nodal planes can be associated to an active structure seen at the surface. The relationship of this earthquake sequence with deeper faults (e.g. possible detachment at about 10 km) is also unclear.

International audience; A new three-dimensional delay traveltime tomography is performed to image the intermediate structure of the western Gulf of Corinth. A large data set, collected in 1991 during a two-month passive tomographic experiment, has been reanalysed for the reconstruction of detailed Vp and Vs images. An improved tomography method, based on an accurate traveltime computation, is applied to invert simultaneously delayed P and S first-arrival traveltimes for both velocity and hypocentre parameters. We perform different synthetic tests to analyse the sensitivity of tomography results to the model parametrization and to the starting 1-D model selection. The analysis of the retrieved Vp and Vs models as well as deduced Vp/Vs and Vp·Vs images allows us to interpret and delineate the distribution of lithological variation, porosity/crack content and fluid saturation in the upper 9–11 km of the crust beneath the gulf. The tomographic models image a rather complex crustal structure, which is characterized by a vertical change in both velocity features and seismicity distribution. We identify a shallower zone of the crust (0–5 km depth), in which velocity distributions seem to be controlled by the still active N–S extensional regime and a deeper zone (7–11 km depth), which matches the seismogenic zone. The correlation between this latter and a specific unit of the Hellenic mountain structure (the Pyllite–Quartzite series) allows us to suggest a possible explanation for seismicity concentration in a narrow band at 7–9 km depth. Finally, the occurrence of clusters showing low-angle normal fault mechanisms in areas characterized by high Vp/Vs values indicates a possible role of fluids in triggering brittle creep along the identified low-angle normal faults.

We propose a procedure for the detection of converted phases in seismograms between the P- and S-arrivals. This procedure has been successfully applied to waveforms of different stations from the 1991 passive experiment around the Aigion area (Greece). Three major converted phases have been detected at two stations on the northern Gulf of Corinth. The first phase has been interpreted as a P-to-S transmitted wave occurring at an interface located at a depth of 3 km in the northern part of the Psaromita Peninsula. The two later phases that have a more complex polarisation might come from deeper interfaces. To cite this article: D. Latorre et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

The 12 stations Corinth Rift Laboratory Seismological Network (CRLNET) aims at monitoring the seismicity (Ml>1) in the CRL area and at constraining the geometry of active structures at depth. Two years of microseismicity (2000–2001) recorded by the CRLNET in the Aigion area shows: (1) background seismicity inside the Corinth rift at depth of 4.5–11 km, deepening towards the north and no activity in the upper 4 km of the crust – this seismicity is not clearly related to major faults observed at the surface –; (2) a swarm, 6 km south of the city of Aigion, associated with the Mw=4.2, 8 April 2001 earthquake. This earthquake occurred at 6 km depth, on a SW–NE oriented fault dipping 40° to the northwest and corresponds to normal faulting with a right lateral component of slip. It likely occurred on an old structure reactivated in the present stress field. To cite this article: H. Lyon-Caen et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).