Are the seismological and geological observations of the Al Hoceima (Morocco, Rif) 2004 earthquake (M=6.3) contradictory?

The street as an area of human exposure in an earthquake aftermath: the case of Lorca, Spain, 2011

“…This is consistent with figures in Euro-Mediterranean countries, where most deaths result from building collapse (Galindo-Zaldívar et al, 2009;Tapan et al, 2013;Alexander 2011). These observations require some qualification, however.…”

Is there an active subduction beneath the Gibraltar orogenic arc? Constraints from Pliocene to present-day stress field

“…Simultaneously, the Alboran basin probably developed as a back-arc basin, and the Lower to Middle Miocene sediments of the western Alboran Sea represent a syn-extensional sedimentary sequence (Chalouan and Michard, 2004;Michard et al, 2006). In addition, the metamorphic rocks of the Internal Zones recorded a progressive ductile to brittle extension during the Early to Middle Miocene (Aldaya et al, 1984;García-Dueñas et al, 1992;Galindo Zaldívar et al, 2009;Platt and Vissers, 1989). Volcanic rocks from the Middle Miocene recorded the partial melting of the subducted crust below the western Alboran region (TorresRoldán et al, 1986).…”

“…Although local clockwise rotations have been detected in the Late Miocene sedimentary rocks of the Granada Basin (Mattei et al, 2006), palaeomagnetic constraints along the Gibraltar Arc provide evidence that no significant vertical has occurred since the Late Tortonian (Krijgsman and Garcés, 2004). Since the Late Tortonian, the evolution of the Betic-Rif Cordillera has been characterized by volcanic activity along a NE-SW band crossing the Alboran Sea, relief uplift, progressive individualization, and the final continentalization of sedimentary basins at Galindo-Zaldívar et al (2003), Marín-Lechado et al (2006), and Alfaro et al (2007); tectonics in the Rif from Bargach et al (2004) and Galindo-Zaldívar et al (2009) the Betic and Rif margins (Maury et al, 2000;Michard et al, 2002).…”

“…These folds extend along the continental shelf of the Alboran Sea deforming up to Holocene sediments . Kilometer-size folds interact with subordinated NW-SE to WNW-ESE normal faults of variable scale that frequently deform the Quaternary sediments with associated seismicity (Sanz de Galdeano et al, 1995;Galindo Zaldívar et al, 2009;Marín-Lechado et al, 2006;Alfaro et al, 2007).…”

“…These normal faults deform the upper crust, and are probably detached at mid-crustal levels (Galindo Zaldívar et al, 2009). The WNW-ESE left-lateral faults responsible for the Al Hoceima seismicity do not crop out onshore, and therefore their activity would be restricted to a deeper part of the crust.…”