Fault‐Controlled Eastern Mediterranean Coast, Lebanon: Geological Contribution to Coastal Management

Abstract

Lying in the midst of a tectonically active region, the Lebanese coast demonstrates a typical area of fault‐controlled coastal stretch. This bears a direct impact on land use in view of the densely populated coast and therefore safety of the population. Measurements of 65 observed faults ranging in length from 5 to 90 km, and 97 coastline segments averaging 1.83 km along the 225‐km‐long coast were obtained from satellite images. Major geological features reflecting the possible extent of damage from different scale earthquakes were studied from maps and field verification. Understanding these features contributes to studies on coastal management that are important for planning and coastal development.