The M = 5.1 1980 Arudy earthquake sequence (western Pyrenees, France): a revisited multi-scale integrated seismologic, geomorphologic and tectonic investigation

This paper presents a combination of seismic imaging, geomorphologic, and tectonic data and an interpretation of the M = 5.1 1980 Arudy earthquake sequence putting in relation the seismicity, the inherited faults, and the geomorphologic (Würm and postwürm) markers in this region of the Pyrenees. Since the anticlockwise rotation of the regional compression axis in Oligocene time, western Pyrenees are under a dextral regime and the resulting motion is accommodated along major inherited E–W dextral strike-slip faults. The Arudy aftershocks sequence is controlled by antecedent horsetail splay faults built at the boundary between two shallow Mesozoic crustal blocks most probably due to their differing rheology. This boundary has played the role of a seismic barrier stopping the E–W slip motion. The Arudy earthquake has reactivated the eastern segment of the main E–W strike-slip fault, while the post-seismic aftershocks correspond to local relaxation processes in normal tectonic behavior.

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