Identification of the seismogenic source of the 1875 Cucuta earthquake on the basis of a combination of neotectonic, paleoseismologic and historic seismicity studies

Rodríguez, Luz María Torres; Diederix, Hans; Torres, Eliana; Audemard, Franck; Hernández, Catalina; Singer, André; Bohorquez, Olga Patricia; Yépez, Santiago

doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2017.09.019

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…For instance, the tectonic structures of the deep basins and erosional troughs affect the submarine geomorphology, which can be interpreted using geophysical and gravimetric measurements. Earthquake-related aftershocks, hazards, and landslides result in damage to the geotechnical infrastructure and bridges [19], demolished buildings, loss of human lives [20], and aseismic slips and creeps [21]. Such consequences affect both nature and the social sectors of Venezuela and require regular monitoring and mapping for risk and vulnerability assessment.…”

Section: Contemporaneity and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismotectonics of Shallow-Focus Earthquakes in Venezuela with Links to Gravity Anomalies and Geologic Heterogeneity Mapped by a GMT Scripting Language

Lemenkova

Debeir

2022

Sustainability

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This paper presents a cartographic framework based on algorithms of GMT codes for mapping seismically active areas in Venezuela. The data included raster grids from GEBCO, EGM-2008, and vector geological layers from the USGS. The data were iteratively processed in the console of GMT, converted by GDAL, formatted, and mapped for geophysical data visualisation; the QGIS was applied for geological mapping. We analyzed 2000 samples of the earthquake events obtained from the IRIS seismic database with a 25-year time span (1997–2021) in order to map the seismicity. The approach to linking geological, topographic, and geophysical data using GMT scripts aimed to map correlations among the geophysical phenomena, tectonic processes, geological setting, seismicity, and earthquakes. The practical application of the GMT scripts consists in automated mapping for the visualization of geological risks and hazards in the mountainous region of the Venezuelan Andes. The proposed method integrates the approach of GMT scripts with state-of-the-art GIS techniques, which demonstrated its effectiveness as a tool for mapping spatial datasets and rapid data processing in an iterative regime. In this context, using GMT and GIS to find similarities between the regional earthquake distribution and the geological and topographic setting is essential for hazard risk assessment. This study can serve as a basis for predictive seismic analysis in geologically vulnerable regions of Venezuela. In addition to a technical demonstration of GMT algorithms, this study also contributes to geological and geophysical mapping and seismic hazard assessments in South America. We present the full scripts used for mapping in a GitHub repository.

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Section: Contemporaneity and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismotectonics of Shallow-Focus Earthquakes in Venezuela with Links to Gravity Anomalies and Geologic Heterogeneity Mapped by a GMT Scripting Language

Lemenkova

Debeir

2022

Sustainability

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“…The Guaicáramo Fault System makes an abrupt double right angle bend north of the town of Tame in the northeast over a distance of 150 km to resume its NE strike at the town of Cúcuta and continues as the Boconó Fault that follows the length of the Mérida Andes in Venezuela (Audemard & Audemard, 2002;Audemard et al, 2005Audemard et al, , 2006. This abrupt double bending over a distance of 150 km is known as the "Pamplona Indenter" (Audemard, 2014;Audemard et al, 2006;Bayona et al, 2008;Boinet et al, 1985;Mora et al, 2010;Rodríguez et al, 2018) but has not been defined yet kinematically. It might even be a large left hand restraining step-over in the system (Christie-Blick & Biddle, 1985;Dooley & McClay, 1997;Mann, 2007;Rodríguez et al, 2018;Sylvester, 1988;Woodcock & Schubert, 1994).…”

Section: Regional Tectonic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This abrupt double bending over a distance of 150 km is known as the "Pamplona Indenter" (Audemard, 2014;Audemard et al, 2006;Bayona et al, 2008;Boinet et al, 1985;Mora et al, 2010;Rodríguez et al, 2018) but has not been defined yet kinematically. It might even be a large left hand restraining step-over in the system (Christie-Blick & Biddle, 1985;Dooley & McClay, 1997;Mann, 2007;Rodríguez et al, 2018;Sylvester, 1988;Woodcock & Schubert, 1994). The imaginary E-W line Girardot-Villavicencio at 4° N latitude marks a transverse zone that has caused rather abrupt westward bending of the Guaicáramo system where it enters the Eastern Cordillera and is best expressed in the geometry of the Servitá Fault, which belongs to the Guaicáramo system (Figure 2; Guillande, 1988;Chorowicz et al, 1996), and the NW-SE oriented Naranjal Fault (Mora et al, 2010).…”

Section: Regional Tectonic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chapter 12

SGC¹

2019

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The Algeciras Fault System, of predominant dextral strike-slip displacement, is part of the major interplate transform fault system, known in Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela as the Eastern Frontal Fault System. This unique transform deformation belt connects the Nazca Plate in the Gulf of Guayaquil in Ecuador with the Caribbean Plate along the coast of Venezuela. Its dextral strike-slip displacement along the eastern boundary of the North Andean Block facilitates tectonic escape of this microplate in a NNE direction. The Algeciras Fault System constitutes the southern half of this transform belt in Colombia, the northern half runs along the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera and is known as the Guaicáramo Thrust Fault System that connects to the Boconó Fault in Venezuela. This relation underlines the significance of the Algeciras Fault System as the major active fault system in continental Colombia that plays a fundamental role in the geodynamics of the northern Andes. So far, the study of this fault system has established a notable degree of fault activity which has been corroborated by data of historic seismicity and velocity vector data of satellite geodesy obtained in recent years by the Grupo de Investigación en Geodesia Satelital of Servicio Geológico Colombiano. The presence of a series of pull-apart basins and the occurrence of monogenetic alkali basaltic volcanism within the realm of the Algeciras Fault System point to transtensional stress regimes that could possibly relate to mantle processes. Knowledge of this fault system has also important implications for seismic hazards that affect considerable parts of the country and pose a particular threat to the capital city. This chapter narrates the history of the actual state of knowledge that reflects the initial stage of a more profound study of the active tectonics of this great and important fault system.

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“…The south apex of the MTB is marked by the termination of the SMBF and a series of left lateral strike slip and west verging reverse faults that all have a more or less similar strike as the BF (Velandia et al, 2007) and coincide with a marked 90° left hand curvature of the transform belt that, further to the northeast, continues as the Boconó Fault after another 90° but right hand curvature of the transform belt south of the town of Cúcuta (Audemard, 2014;Diederix et al, 2009b). This structural configuration is known as the Pamplona indenter (Audemard, 2003(Audemard, , 2014Audemard & Audemard, 2002;Audemard et al, 2006;Boinet et al1985;Rodríguez et al, 2018). The NNW orientation of the BF and other faults in the northern part of the Eastern Cordillera, north of 6.5° N latitude (Velandia et al, 2007), contrasts with the NNE structural grain of the southern half of the cordillera.…”

Section: Regional Tectonic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is an area of elevated seismic activity related to fault systems of west verging reverse faults that run in a NNW direction more or less parallel to the BF. Some major historic earthquakes have occurred in this area: The 1644 Pamplona earthquake of M ≥ 7.2 and the 1875 M ≥ 6.8 Cúcuta earthquake of which recently the culprit fault has been identified, it being the northern branch of the Boconó Fault, the Aguascalientes Fault, that runs in an E-W direction just to the south of Cúcuta town (Audemard et al, 2006;Rodríguez et al, 2018).…”

Section: Seismicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Chapter 13

SGC¹

2019

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The 350 km long Bucaramanga Fault is the southern and most prominent segment of the 550 km long Santa Marta-Bucaramanga Fault that is a NNW striking left lateral strike-slip fault system. It is the most visible tectonic feature north of latitude 6.5° N in the northern Andes of Colombia and constitutes the western boundary of the Maracaibo Tectonic Block or microplate, the southeastern boundary of the block being the right lateral strike-slip Boconó Fault in Venezuela. The Bucaramanga Fault has been subjected in recent years to neotectonic, paleoseismologic, and paleomagnetic studies that have quantitatively confirmed the Quaternary activity of the fault, with eight seismic events during the Holocene that have yielded a slip rate in the order of 2.5 mm/y, whereas a paleomagnetic study in sediments of the Bucaramanga alluvial fan have yielded a similar slip rate of 3 mm/y. This recent activity is not reflected in surveys of instrumental seismicity that indicate a low level of seismic activity whereas the strong geomorphic expression of the fault trace, corroborated by field studies and landscape evolutionary models, suggests higher slip rates during the Pleistocene. The occurrence of a large transpressive duplex structure developed in a right hand restraining step-over along the northern stretch of the fault suggests fault locking that might explain this low level of seismicity. Recent results of GPS instrumentation of certain sectors of the fault indicate a confusing pattern of velocity vectors that are a reflection of considerable deformation within the shear zone of the fault.

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Identification of the seismogenic source of the 1875 Cucuta earthquake on the basis of a combination of neotectonic, paleoseismologic and historic seismicity studies

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Seismotectonics of Shallow-Focus Earthquakes in Venezuela with Links to Gravity Anomalies and Geologic Heterogeneity Mapped by a GMT Scripting Language

Seismotectonics of Shallow-Focus Earthquakes in Venezuela with Links to Gravity Anomalies and Geologic Heterogeneity Mapped by a GMT Scripting Language

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