Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2012

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2012. During this period, 497 earthquakes and 88 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. With a total of only 13 events with M_L ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2012 was far below the average over the previous 37 years. Most noteworthy were the earthquake sequence of Filisur (GR) in January with two events of M_L 3.3 and 3.5, the M_L 4.2 and M_L 3.5 earthquakes at a depth of 32 km below Zug in February and the M_L 3.6 event near Vallorcine in October. The epicentral intensity of the M_L 4.2 event close to Zug was IV, with a maximum intensity of V reached in a few areas, probably due to site amplification effects.     

Intensity field of the 19 June 1975 Gargano (Southern Italy) earthquake

Many moderate events reported by Italian earthquake catalogues (either historical or recent) are listed with an epicentral intensity derived from intensitymagnitude relationships or evaluated based on preliminary sources. Contradictions may arise among different catalogues when the effects of a given earthquake are not assessed through a specific macroseismic study as each catalogue generally uses its own criteria for evaluating the intensity. In this paper we present the case of the June 19 1975 earthquake, a M_L = 5.1 (ING seismological bulletin) event that occurred in the Gargano area (southern Italy). The intensity reported by the ING catalogue is VIII MCS (estimated from magnitude), that reported by the NT4.1 catalogue is VI MCS, while the PFG catalogue does not report an intensity. The case of this event is well representative of a period during which macroseismic studies were not undertaken systematically in Italy. In this paper we reassess the macroseismic intensity of this event using procedures implemented and routinely used at ING.     

Co-seismic ruptures and deformations recorded by speleothems in the epicentral zone of the Basel earthquake

The study of growth anomalies of speleothems in a karstic environment can provide potential evidence for palaeoearthquakes. These data are used to study the recurrence times of major earthquakes in areas where evidence for historic seismicity is lacking. A study has been carried out in the epicentral area of the 1356 Basel earthquake (epicentral intensity = VII–VIII, macroseismic magnitude = 6.2). The Bättlerloch and Dieboldslöchli caves, situated in the area of greatest damage, show growth anomalies of speleothems possibly related to a seismic event (several breaks of speleothems and offsets of the axis of the regrowths). The first U/Th disequilibrum measurements by alpha spectrometry show recent ages (less than several tens of thousands of years and probably historic). ¹⁴C dating by AMS of carbonate laminations taken on both sides of the anomalies confirm the evidence of a seismic event around 1300 AD. More accurate darings by U/Th TIMS are carried out in order to compare the information provided by the two different dating methods.     

Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2010

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2010. During this period, 407 earthquakes and 85 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. With a total of only 19 events with M_L ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2010 was below the average over the previous 35 years. The two most noteworthy earthquakes were the M_L 3.4 Barrhorn event near Sankt Niklaus (VS) and the M_L 3.0 event of Feldkirch, both of which produced shaking of intensity IV.     

Interpretation of intensity attenuation relation of 1905 Kangra earthquake with epicentral distance and magnitude in the Northwest Himalayan region

Seismic intensity information of historical earthquake of NW Himalayas has been utilized for evaluating the attenuation of the intensity with the epicentral distance. Purposefully, the observed intensity of big historical earthquake may implicitly incorporate some site effects arising due to the near surface geology or deposited soil. The isoseismal map of the 1905 Kangra earthquake yields an area of perceptibility defined by the intensity VII (RF Scale), which is mainly elongated in the NNW-SSE direction. However, the higher isoseismals of intensity VIII and IX are more symmetrical and elongated in the SE direction. These isoseismals are more compressed in the northeast and northwest direction indicating fast attenuation characteristics, which may be either due to the presence of any transverse geotectonic feature or change in lithology. In the present study the regression relation has been derived to incorporate the attenuation of intensity with variable magnitudes at different epicentral distances. The derived attenuation relation is useful for assessing damage of a potential future earthquake (earthquake scenario-based planning purposes) for the Kangra region, Northwest Himalaya. The derived relation is mentioned below:

The 1946 magnitude 6.1 earthquake in the Valais: site-effects as contributor to the damage

The January 25, 1946 earthquake in the central Valais region in southwest Switzerland was the strongest for the last 150 years. It reached an epicentral intensity Io of VIII in the area of Sierre. The Swiss Earthquake Catalogue (ECOS 2002) assigns a moment magnitude of Mw = 6.1 to the event. Assessment of recordings from European stations resulted in a moment magnitude of 5.8 (Bernardi et al. 2005). The earthquake caused moderate to high damage within a circle of about a 25 kilometer radius. Slight damage occurred up to a distance of 200 kilometers from the epicenter. The goal of this study was to reconstruct the damage field and consider its possible site-effects. We used an approach combining historical research with seismo-/geological investigation including a large number of experiments measuring the fundamental frequency of resonance and the shear-wave velocities of the sedimentary layers, using the characteristics of ambient vibration. This kind of research is relevant, since a huge alpine valley characterizes the Valais region, showing ground conditions that make site-effects likely for earthquakes. While we searched for damage in an unlimited area, our investigation of site-effects was limited to the Rhone valley and to Sion and Sierre in the central Valais region in particular.     

Geospatial data: a key ingredient for Swiss Re’s underwriting and service tools

As a leading global reinsurer, Swiss Re deals with many hazards and risks for which geospatial data are crucial in order to obtain reliable assessments of expected insured losses or large losses from catastrophes. Typically, such data are used in combination with insurance data either in pricing tools to calculate premiums, tail risks and more, or in mapping tools. In natural perils pricing applications—the most important group of tools—geospatial data are usually “not visible” but are instead used to create probabilistic event sets. For example, a flood event set may define spatially if and how frequently a given location is flooded. Mapping tools, such as Swiss Re’s CatNet^® (www.swissre.com/catnet), visualize the data in the form of maps which include many useful attributes per geographic location.

     

The record of historic earthquakes in lake sediments of Central Switzerland

Deformation structures in lake sediments in Central Switzerland can be attributed to strong historic earthquakes. The type and spatial distribution of the deformation structures reflect the historically documented macroseismic intensities thus providing a useful calibration tool for paleoseismic investigations in prehistoric lake sediments.The Swiss historical earthquake catalogue shows four moderate to strong earthquakes with moment magnitudes of M_w=5.7 to M_w=6.9 and epicentral intensities of I₀=VII to I₀=IX that affected the area of Central Switzerland during the last 1000 years. These are the 1964 Alpnach, 1774 Altdorf, 1601 Unterwalden, and 1356 Basel earthquakes. In order to understand the effect of these earthquakes on lacustrine sediments, four lakes in Central Switzerland (Sarner See, Lungerer See, Baldegger See, and Seelisberg Seeli) were investigated using high-resolution seismic data and sediment cores. The sediments consist of organic- and carbonate-rich clayey to sandy silts that display fine bedding on the centimeter to millimeter scale. The sediments are dated by historic climate and environmental records, ¹³⁷Cs activity, and radiocarbon ages. Deformation structures occur within distinct zones and include large-scale slumps and rockfalls, as well as small-scale features like disturbed and contorted lamination and liquefaction structures. These deformations are attributed to three of the abovementioned earthquakes. The spatial distribution of deformation structures in the different lakes clearly reflects the historical macroseismic dataset: Lake sediments are only affected if they are situated within an area that underwent groundshaking not smaller than intensity VI to VII. We estimate earthquake size by relating the epicentral distance of the farthest liquefaction structure to earthquake magnitude. This relationship is in agreement with earthquake size estimations based on the historical dataset.     

Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2011

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2011. During this period, 522 earthquakes and 92 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. With a total of only 10 events with M _L????2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2011 was far below the average over the previous 36?years. Most noteworthy were the earthquake sequence of Sierre (VS) in January, with two events of M _L 3.3 and 3.2, the M _L 3.3 earthquake at a depth of 31?km below Bregenz, and the M _L 3.1 event near Delémont. The two strongest events near Sierre produced shaking of intensity IV.     

Seismogeological effects on rocks during the 12 April 1998 upper So a Territory earthquake (NW Slovenia)

On 12 April 1998, the strongest earthquake (M_L 5.7), with an epicentre in Slovenia, in the last 100 years shook the upper So a Territory (NW Slovenia). Its maximum intensity was between VII and VIII according to the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98). Its epicentre is located in the area SE of the town of Bovec in the Krn mountain range (Julian Alps). Apart from substantial material damage to nearby settlements, the earthquake caused considerable changes to the landscape through many rockfalls and landslides. In this paper, we try to assess the effects of this event on the natural surroundings. The presented results are useful to understand the relation between “seismogeological” effects and the intensity scale EMS-98 for this particular event, but might also be a first step towards a future statistically meaningful assessment of the intensity scale on the basis of “seismogeological” effects.     

Influence of local geological conditions on the macroseismic effects in the town of Strazhitza

Damage caused by the earthquake of 7 December 1986 (M = 5.7) and its aftershocks in low-storey residential buildings in the town of Strazhitza, Bulgaria, situated in the epicentral zone are systematized. A scale of damages is compiled for two types of buildings which is coordinated with the MSK-64 scale. The territorial distribution of the seismic intensity is compared with the results of the detailed engineering-geological study. A correlation between the Quarternary deposit thickness and the observed seismic intensity is obtained.Paper presented at the 21st general assembly of the European Seismological Commission held in Sofia, 1988.     

Preliminary results of seismic hazard assessment in the Sannio-Matese area of Southern Italy

The seismic hazard in the Sannio-Matese area has been worked out by a modification of the McGuire (1976) computing programme, taking into account the influence of nine potential seismic source zones.The method uses truncated-quadratic intensity-frequency distribution and azimuth-dependent intensity attenuation derived from isoseismal maps for each of the seismogenetic sources. A new modification has been introduced to take into account different decay of the intensity in the near (to VIII degree) and far (from VIII degree) field.Different assumptions about maximum possible intensities and truncation of intensity-frequency laws are used to evaluate the effects of the uncertainties on the computed hazard at high intensities. Intensities associated with different level of annual probability are computed for five test sites in the considered area. Maps displaying the expected intensity for a mean return period of 500 years (pa 0.002) are presented and compared with observed intensities.Presented at the XXIst General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission, Symposium on Methods of Seismic Hazard Assessment in Europe, Sofia, 23–27 August 1988.     

Atlas of macroseismic maps for French earthquakes with their principal characteristics

The SIRENE macroseismic database has been utilized to draw isoseismal maps for the 140 best-documented French earthquakes, characterized by epicentral intensities of at least V (MSK) and located in all parts of the country. A study of focal depths derived from available local intensity data using an intensity versus distance decay law (Sponheuer) shows that the focal depths of most of the events considered do not exceed about 10 km. Their distribution correlates fairly well with regional dynamic geology features. A relationship is then computed between magnitude, intensity and focal distance, based on 73 instrumenta]ly recorded earthquakes (M _L between 3.3 and 6.3) and on 217 mean radius values (from 2 to 380 km) for isoseismals of intensity VIII to III (MSK). This relationship is applied to historical earthquakes contained in the database SIRENE which are characterised by their intensity only. These results are used in the evaluation as well deterministic as probabilistic of the seismic hazard on the national territory.     

Active thrust tectonics in western Sicily (southern Italy): the 1968 Belice earthquake sequence

The 1968 Belice earthquake sequence, characterized by six main shocks with 5 < M < 5.4, represents the strongest seismic event recorded in western Sicily in historical times. The epicentral area is located in the Belice Valley, a region lacking any topographic lineament likely to result from a fault with significant offsets of any kind. Instrumental data show that hypocentres of the major shocks are distributed along a roughly N-dipping plane extending from about 36 km to 1 km depth. Fault plane solutions show pure thrusting mechanisms on N-dipping, ENE-trending planes, or oblique slip with a right-lateral component of motion along steep WSW-dipping planes, both as a result of approximate N-S shortening. The observed destruction indicates that isoseismal areas are elongated in an ENE direction. Similarly, the epiccntral distribution of events with M ≥ 4 outlines a roughly elliptical ENE-elongated area located 20 km NW of the Sciacca-Rocca Ficuzza thrust front. This ENE-striking structure, representing the regional morphotectonic feature closest to the epicentral area, consists of two main imbricate fan systems. In the southernmost system, Quaternary deposits (tentatively dated as 1.0–0.7 Myr old) are involved in a large ramp anticline uplifting them to a maximum altitude of 346 m. The occurrence of Holocene lacustrine piggy-back basins on the rear of this structure also indicates late Quaternary activity of the underlying thrust. Seismological, structural and morphotectonic observations suggest that multiple ruptures might have occurred during the 1968 sequence on a blind crustal thrust ramp located beneath the epicentral area. Slip propagated southwards along the shallow ramp-flat system characterizing the thin-skinned foreland fold and thrust belt of southwestern Sicily, being dispersed in flexural folding processes and diffuse strain along this path.     

1822 earthquake-triggered homogenite in Lake Le Bourget (NW Alps)

High-resolution textural signatures of an earthquake-induced historical 'homogenite' layer are presented, as well as its 3D distribution. This homogeneous deposit is correlated with the AD 1822 event (VII–VIII MSK intensity), the main historical earthquake of the French outer Alps, using ²¹⁰Pb dating and historical chronicles. During this earthquake a violent lake water oscillation was reported (seiche effect). In the present study we discuss the influence of lake water oscillations during earthquake-induced subaqueous slide, through a pluridisciplinary analysis of subbottom sediments including high-resolution seismic, sidescan sonar and short gravity coring.     

Archean Granitoids at the Contact of Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt and Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, in Bhuban-Rengali Sector, Orissa, India

The small granite plutons occurring at the contact of the Singhbhum-Orissa Iron Ore craton (IOC) to the north and the Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt (EGGB) to the south in eastern Indian shield are characterised by the presence of enclaves of the granulites of EGGB and the greenschist facies rocks of IOC. These granites also bear the imprints of later cataclastic deformation which is present at the contact of the IOC and the EGGB. In situ Pb-Pb zircon dating of these granites gives minimum age of their formation 2.80 Ga. A whole-rock three point Rb-Sr isochron age of this rock is found to be 2.90 Ga. Therefore, the true age of formation of these granites will be around 2.90–2.80 Ga. These granitic rocks also contain xenocrystic zircon components of 3.50 Ga and show a later metasomatic or metamorphic effect 2.48 Ga obtained from the analyses on overgrowths developed on 2.80 Ga old zircon cores. The presence of granulitic enclaves within these contact zone granite indicates that the granulite facies metamorphism of the EGGB is 2.80 Ga or still older in age. The cataclastic deformations observed at the contact zone of the two adjacent cratons is definitely younger than 2.80 Ga and possibly related to 2.48 Ga event observed from the overgrowths. As 2.80 Ga granite plutons of small dimensions are also observed at the western margin of the IOC; it can be concluded that a geologic event occurred 2.80 Ga over the IOC when small granite bodies evolved at the marginal part of this craton after its stabilisation at 3.09 Ga.     

Holocene Relative Sea Level Changes along the Seattle Fault at Restoration Point, Washington

At a marsh on the hanging wall of the Seattle fault, fossil brackish water diatom and plant seed assemblages show that the marsh lay near sea level between 7500 and 1000 cal yr B.P. This marsh is uniquely situated for recording environmental changes associated with past earthquakes on the Seattle fault. Since 7500 cal yr B.P., changes in fossil diatoms and seeds record several rapid environmental changes. In the earliest of these, brackish conditions changed to freshwater 6900 cal yr B.P., possibly because of coseismic uplift or beach berm accretion. If coseismic uplift produced the freshening 6900 cal yr B.P., that uplift probably did not exceed 2 m. During another event about 1700 cal yr B.P., brackish plant and diatom assemblages changed rapidly to a tidal flat assemblage because of either tectonic subsidence or berm erosion. The site then remained a tideflat until the most recent event, when an abrupt shift from tideflat diatoms to freshwater taxa resulted from 7 m of uplift during an earthquake on the Seattle fault 1000 cal yr B.P. Regardless of the earlier events, no Seattle fault earthquake similar to the one 1000 cal yr B.P. occurred at any other time in the past 7500 years.     

Holocene activity of the Scilla Fault, Southern Calabria: Insights from coastal morphological and structural investigations

Integration of on-land and offshore geomorphological and structural investigations coupled to extensive radiometric dating of co-seismically uplifted Holocene beaches allows characterization of the geometry, kinematics and seismotectonics of the Scilla Fault, which borders the eastern side of the Messina Strait in Calabria, Southern Italy. This region has been struck by destructive historical earthquakes, but knowledge of geologically-based source parameters for active faults is relatively poor, particularly for those running mostly offshore, as the Scilla Fault does. The  30 km-long normal fault may be divided into three segments of  10 km individual length, with the central and southern segments split in at least two strands. The central and northern segments are submerged, and in this area marine geophysical data indicate a youthful morphology and locally evidence for active faulting. The on-land strand of the western segment displaces marine terraces of the last interglacial (124 to 83 ka), but seismic reflection profiles suggest a full Quaternary activity. Structural data collected on bedrock faults exposed along the on-land segment provide evidence for normal slip and  NW-SE extension, which is consistent with focal mechanisms of large earthquakes and GPS velocity fields in the region. Detailed mapping of raised Holocene marine deposits exposed at the coastline straddling of the northern and central segments supplies evidence for two co-seismic displacements at  1.9 and  3.5 ka, and a possible previous event at  5 ka. Co-seismic displacements show a consistent site value and pattern of along-strike variation, suggestive of characteristic-type behaviour for the fault. The  1.5–2.0 m average co-seismic slips during these events document M_e  6.9–7.0 earthquakes with  1.6–1.7 ka recurrence time. Because hanging-wall subsidence cannot be included into slip magnitude computation, these slips reflect footwall uplift, and represent minimum average estimates. The palaeoseismological record based on the palaeo-shorelines suggests that the last rupture on the Scilla Fault during the February 6, 1783 M_w = 5.9–6.3 earthquake was at the expected time but it may have not entirely released the loaded stress since the last great event at  1.9 ka. Comparison of the estimated co-seismic extension rate based on the Holocene shoreline record with available GPS velocities indicates that the Scilla Fault accounts for at least  15–20% of the contemporary geodetic extension across the Messina Strait.