Study by RADAR interferometry (insar) of the Mula (Murcia) 1999 (mb 4.8) earthquake applied to the seismotectonic analysis of the seismic source

The RADAR interferometry (INSAR) is a modern technique that offers the possibility to identify and quantify surface displacements using phase differences from two different RADAR images (Massonnet and Feigl, 1998). The result of an interferometric study applied to the February 1 999 (Mb: 4.8) Mula (Murcia) earthquake is shown in this work. The available seismological data for this earthquake give different focal mechanisms (reverse or strike-slip mechanism) depending on the applied method. The five coseismic interferograms show that the Mula mainshock produced a very small surface deformation, less than expected for a pure reverse and swallow source. This evidence and the surface geological data support a NE-SO strike-slip fault (probably the Crevillente fault) to be the seismogenetic source