Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Strasser, M. Articles by Schnellmann, M. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Magnitudes and source areas of large prehistoric northern Alpine earthquakes revealed by slope failures in lakes

¹ Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
² Swiss Seismological Service, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
³ Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

We identify evidence for three large paleo-earthquakes in central Switzerland with moment magnitudes (M > 6.5–7.0) significantly exceeding historically known values. These earthquakes occurred during the past 15 k.y. and were strong enough to simultaneously affect a large region that includes the present-day major cities of Lucerne and Zurich. We reconstruct the chronology, magnitudes, and epicenters of these prehistoric earthquakes using temporal and spatial correlation of multiple subaqueous landslide deposits in Lake Zurich and Lake Lucerne through high-resolution seismic surveys, radiocarbon-dated sediment cores, and spatial calculations using an empirical seismic attenuation model. Our data indicate ongoing Alpine deformation that generated and could potentially generate destructive events in heavily populated regions that have been unaccustomed to seismic activity during historic time.

Key Words: paleoseismology • lacustrine sedimentation • slumps • earthquake magnitude • seismotectonics