Large seismic faults in the Hellenic arc

Using information concerning reliable fault plane solutions, spatial distribution of strong earthquakes (Ms³ 6.0) as well as sea bottom and coastal topography, properties of the seismic faults (orientation, dimension, type of faulting) were determined in seven shallow (h &lt; 40 km) seismogenic regions along the convex part of thc Hellenic arc (Hellenic trench) and in four seismogenic regions of intermediate depth earthquakes (h = 40-100 km) along the concave part of this arc. Except for the northwesternmost part of the Hellenic trench, where the strike-slip Cephalonia transform fault dominates, all other faults along this trench are low angle thrust faults. III thc western part of the trench (Zante-west Crete) faults strike NW-SE and dip NE, while in its eastern part (east Crete-Rhodos) faults strike WNW-ESE and dip NNE. Such system of faulting can be attributed to an overthrust of the Aegean lithosphere on the eastern Mediterranean lithosphere. The longest of these faults (L = 300 km) is that which produced the largest known shallow earthquake in the Mediterranean area (21 July 365, Ms = 8.3) which is located near the southwestern coast of Crete. The second longest such fault (L = l 70 km) is that which produced a large earthquake (December 1303, Ms = 8.0) in the easternmost part of the trench (east of Rhodos island). Both earthquakes were associated with gigantic tsunamis which caused extensive damage in the coast of many Eastern Mediterranean countries. Seismic faults of the intermediate depth earthquakes in the shallow part of the Benioff zone (h = 40- 100 km) are of strike-slip type, with a thrust component. The orientations of these faults vary along the concave part of the arc in accordance with a subduction of remnants of all old lithospheric slab from the convex side (Mediterranean) to the concave side (Aegean) of thc Hellenic arc. The longest of these faults (L = 220 km) is that which produced the largest known intermediate depth earthquake in the whole Mediterranean area (12 October 1856, M = 8.2) north of Crete. The second longest such fault (L = 160 km) produced a large earthquake (26 June 1926, M = 8.0) in the easternmost part of the concave part of the arc (near Rhodos). Both earthquakes caused very serious damage in several Eastern Mediterranean countries but were not associated with tsunamis.</jats:p

Non-linear arrival time tomography

The use of 1D or pseudo- 3D ray tracing techniques in linearized tomographic problems leads to solutions for which it is difficult to assess the true resolution and error distribution. For this reason, we employ a revised 3D bending algorithm (Moser et al., 1992) and show that it can be used efficiently for a non-linear inversion in a stepwise scheme. Initial paths are determined from graph theory in order to avoid local minima in bending. The importance of 3D ray tracing in inversion studies and the limitations of the standard 1D approach are demonstrated through synthetic examples. The speed of the ray tracing and the simple scaling scheme allow for an implementation in large-scale tomographic problems.</jats:p

On the validity of the regional time and magnitude predictable model in China

A simplified form of the "regional time and magnitude predictable model" gives the time interval, T, between two successive mainshocks in a region and the magnitude, Mf, of the following mainshock by the relations: logT=cMP+a; Mf=CMp+A, where Mp is the magnitude of the preceding mainshock, a, A are constants which depend on the minimum considered mainshock and on the region's tectonic loading (moment rate). The physical meaning of the model is that the larger the magnitude of the preceding main shock, Mp, the longer the time, T, will be till the occurrence of the next one and the smaller its magnitude, Mf. This means that parameters c and C are positive and negative, respectively, when the model has been found valid for a certain area. In order to examine if the above model is appropriate to describe the seismicity behavior in the area of China, a detailed inspection was carried out aiming to show if the estimated values of parameters c and C favor the model. The results show that c tends to the global value 0.33, obtained by Papazachos and Papadimitriou (1997), and that C tends to be within the range [-0.30, -0.23]. The results, which favored the model, greatly outnumber those that do not follow it, the latter being concentrated around the boundaries of the seismically active regions. It is concluded that the results, which favor the model, obviously dominate the whole territory of China.</jats:p

Monitoring of the geomagnetic and geoelectric field in two regions of Greece for the detection of earthquake precursors

Two magnetotelluric stations have been installed in the South-Eastern Thessaly basin (Central Greece), which have recorded the geomagnetic and geoelectric fields since 1993. The aim is to detect long lasting abnormal changes of the geoelectric field which may be due to impending earthquakes. The geoelectric recordings were checked against the climatic changes such as temperature changes and precipitation and no correlation was observed. Ten anomalies were observed with characteristics similar to seismoelectric signals which have been reported in the literature and thus we can assume that these changes constitute precursory phenomena. The duration of these signals varies from several days to a few weeks. Some of them keep on developing until the occurrence of an earthquake, and others appear like transient changes several days before. The high seismicity of the area where the stations are located creates difficulties in the correlation of the signals with certain shocks.</jats:p