Summary The ∼M6 1799 Bouin earthquake is considered as one of the largest earthquakes to have struck Western France. However, the seismogenic source potentially responsible for this event remain marginally documented. We present results from a focused offshore-onshore multidisciplinary survey in its meizoseismal area in order to identify the fault segments that potentially ruptured during this earthquake. Based on macroseismic data and the geology, we focused our study on the so-called Machecoul Fault as a potential source of the 1799 Bouin event. Our survey includes extensive high-resolution seismic reflection, high resolution bathymetry and a one-year seismological survey. These data were combined with existing topography, onshore gravity data and drill data to document the geometry of the Marais Breton / Baie de Bourgneuf basin, the past tectonic activity and the current local microearthquakes at depth along its bounding faults. Offshore and onshore observations suggest a recent activity of the segmented Machecoul Fault bounding the basin to the North. Offshore, the planar contact between the Plio-Quaternary sediments and the basement along the fault trace as well as the thickening of these sedimentary units near this contact suggests tectonic control rather than erosion. Onshore, the recent incision of the footwall of the fault suggests a recent tectonic activity. The temporary local seismological experiment deployed between 2016 and 2017 recorded a diffuse micro-seismicity down to the depth of 22 +/-5 km along the southward dipping Machecoul Fault, associated with predominantly normal fault mechanisms. Altogether, these results suggest that the Machecoul Fault is a serious candidate for being the source of the historical Bouin 1799 earthquake.

Mainland France is part of a plate interior with a strong structural heritage, undergoing a low rate of deformation, where destructive earthquakes can nevertheless occur. In this paper, we emphasize that the knowledge of active faults is still largely fragmentary, and that significant efforts are needed to generate robust data, in particular on the numerous faults, that still lack any study. This is the aim of the "Failles ACTives France" (FACT) axis launched in the framework of the Transverse Seismicity Action (ATS) of the Resif-Epos consortium. We present some recent investigations carried out along suspected active faults in mountainous areas, their forelands and remote lowlands, which implement new approaches and new tools, and allow characterizing their Quaternary activity.