A tomography image of the Aegean region (Greece) derived from inversion of macroseismic intensity data

Abstract

The three-dimensional attenuation structure beneath the Aegean sea and the surrounding regions was determined by inversion of seismic intensity data. A large number of seismic intensity data have been accumulated in a uniform scale in the Aegean region, where the seismic activity is much higher than that of the other Mediterranean regions. Nearly 11000 seismic intensity data from 47 earthquakes that have occurred in these regions were used to determine the seismic attenuation structure. The resulting structure reveals a remarkable contrast of attenuation. In the top layer (depth 0-20 km), low Q is dominant in the central Aegean sea, while high Q is dominant in the surrounding land areas, except for Southwestern Turkey. The low-Q regions correspond to areas of Neogene-Quaternary grabens where the high seismicity of shallow earthquakes appears. In the lower layer (20-40 km) low-Q areas are located in the southeastern part of the Hellenic arc. Some low-Q spots corresponding to the distribution of volcanoes exist along the volcanic arc. The low-Q spots might correspond to diapirs causing subduction volcanism.