Quaternary earthquakes and landslides in the Sea of Galilee area, the Dead Sea Transform: Paleoseismic analysis and implication to the current hazard

Holocene rockfalls in the southern Negev Desert, Israel and their relation to Dead Sea fault earthquakes

“…Numerical procedure is required to calculate rockfall ages, which range between 3.6 ± 0.8 and 4.7 ± 0.7 ka in our study sites. These ages agree well with other boulder piles dated in the region (Matmon et al, 2005) and with earthquake ages determined in paleoseismic studies along the entire length of the DSF system (Marco et al, 1996;Gluck, 2001;Ken-Tor et al, 2001;Amit et al, 2002;Hofstetter, 2003;Migowski et al, 2004;Kagan et al, 2005;Marco et al, 2006;Baer et al, 2008;Zilberman et al, 2008;Braun et al, 2010;Katz et al, 2010;Shaked et al, 2011). All compiled paleoseismic data suggest intensive earthquake activity along the entire DSF system and its main branch (the Carmel fault) around 4-5 ka.…”

“…Earthquake records from more distant locations along the Dead Sea rift and its main branching fault (the Carmel Fault) also indicate the occurrence of earthquakes at 4-5 ka (e.g., Gluck, 2001;Amit et al, 2002;Migowski et al, 2004;Kagan et al, 2005;Matmon et al, 2005;Marco et al, 2006;Zilberman et al, 2008;Braun et al, 2010;Katz et al, 2010;Shaked et al, 2011;Fig. 10).…”

The Mid‐eighth Century CE Surface Faulting Along the Dead Sea Fault at Tiberias (Sea of Galilee, Israel)

“…The recurrence interval in Sea of Galilee region is about 500 and 1,500 years for earthquakes of Mw > 6 and Mw > 6.5, respectively (Ambraseys, 2009; Hamiel et al, 2009; Katz et al, 2010). Such large earthquakes may generate ground acceleration up to 0.5 g and earthquake‐induced landslides around the Sea of Galilee (Katz et al, 2010).…”

“…In the Sea of Galilee area, the main fault segment is the left‐lateral Jordan Valley Fault (JVF), which runs along the east side of the Sea of Galilee (Marco et al, 2005; Hamiel et al, 2016; Wechsler et al, 2018, and references therein; Figure 1b). The JVF is characterized by Holocene left‐lateral and normal components, which are estimated to be 4–5 and 0.1–0.2 mm/year, respectively, based on paleoseismology (Ferry et al, 2007; Katz et al, 2010) and on GPS data. The latter indicates shallow creep behavior of the JVF along the SE coast of the Sea of Galilee (Hamiel et al, 2016).…”

“…For a thorough review of the historical seismicity along the entire DSF and related paleoseismological and archaeoseismological evidence, the reader is referred to the several review papers published on this topic (e.g., Agnon, 2014; Ambraseys, 2009; Garfunkel et al, 2014; Guidoboni et al, 2007; Marco & Klinger, 2014; Zohar, 2019; Zohar et al, 2016). The recurrence interval in Sea of Galilee region is about 500 and 1,500 years for earthquakes of Mw > 6 and Mw > 6.5, respectively (Ambraseys, 2009; Hamiel et al, 2009; Katz et al, 2010). Such large earthquakes may generate ground acceleration up to 0.5 g and earthquake‐induced landslides around the Sea of Galilee (Katz et al, 2010).…”