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SUMMARY Geomorphological, marine biological and radiometric data in combination with earlier reports reveal that the Ms= 7.2, 1953 Cephalonia earthquake, the most destructive but least studied earthquake in Greece this century, was associated with a 0.3–0.7 m quasi‐rigid‐body uplift and westward tilting of the central part of the island. Another palaeoseismic event, around 1500 yr BP, associated with coastal uplifts was also identified. Structural data indicate that the 1953 uplift is bounded by two subparallel, east‐dipping major reverse faults and corresponds to a piston‐like motion. This structurally unusual pattern of seismic deformation is detached from the deformation of the basement (conspicuously a thrust) and different from the long‐term deformation pattern of the area; it is probably due to the particularities of salt tectonics: a ˜1500 m thick salt layer acts as a regional décollement, while thinner layers are sandwiched between the carbonate thrust sheets that compose the overburden and reduce their friction during fault movement. This crustal anisotropy is responsible for the observed anomalous attenuation of seismic waves during the 1953 and historical earthquakes. The 1953 seismic surface deformation mimics long‐term halotectonic patterns, but is not directly indicative of the regional stress‐field, for it reflects uplift‐induced stresses only.

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