Late Holocene rupture history of the Ventas de Zafarraya Fault (Southern Spain)
Keywords:
paleoseismology, 1884 Arenas del Rey earthquake, recurrence rate, trenchingAbstract
One of the most destructive earthquakes on the Iberian Peninsula (Ms 6.7) occurred in 1884 along the Ventas de Zafarraya Fault (VZF, southern Spain). New paleoseismological data based on trenching and radiometric dating allow the faulting history in the last 10 ky to be characterized. Four major events (Ms around 6.5 ± 0.5) are revealed, which are regarded as maximum credible earthquakes along the fault. The mean slip rate during the Holocene is estimated to be on the order of 0.3 to 0.45 mm/y. One major conclusion is that the recurrence period for “characteristic” earthquakes along the VZF is on the order of 2000 years. Due to these expected recurrence rates, future research should now focus on other faults of similar length and activity, because those faults will be posing a seismic hazard for the Iberian Peninsula in the near future.References
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