Analysis of the seismicity in the central part of the Pyrenees (France), and tectonic implications

Abstract

Two temporary seismological networks have been set up in 2000 and 2002 in the central part of the Pyrenees, in a region, which appears as a transition between two domains where both the seismic activity and the tectonic regime are different. Together with the permanent networks, they allowed us to obtain precise hypocenter locations for more than 400 events with local magnitudes ranging from 1.5 to 4.6, as well as 30 new focal mechanisms. The seismicity is distributed in several clusters, which are not located along the North Pyrenean Fault, considered as the major tectonic accident resulting from the suture of the Iberian and Eurasian convergent plates when the range formed. Several small fault segments dipping to the north are identified. The maximum focal depth varies from 10 to 20 km, with variations which are roughly parallel to those of the Moho, indicating a thickening of the seismogenic layer to the east of the studied area. The obtained focal solutions reveal a predominance of normal faulting to the West and reverse faulting to the East, with strike-slip motions in between. The largest fault segment to the East, with a length of about 20 km, could possibly be related to a large historical event which occurred in 1660, with intensity IX, close to cities which have become since then important touristic centres.