Abstract. Soil and debris slides are prone to rapid and dramatic reactivation. Deformation within the instability is accommodated by sliding, whereby weak seismic energies are released through material deformation. Thus, passive microseismic monitoring provides information that relates to the slope dynamics. In this study, passive microseismic data acquired at Super-Sauze (southeastern France) and Pechgraben (Upper Austria) slow-moving clay-rich debris slides ("clayey landslides") are investigated. Observations are benchmarked against previous similar case studies to provide a comprehensive and homogenized typology of microseismic signals at clayey landslides. A thorough knowledge of the various microseismic signals generated by slope deformation is crucial for the future development of automatic detection systems to be implemented in landslide early-warning systems. Detected signals range from short-duration (< 2 s) quake-like signals to a wide variety of longer-duration tremor-like radiations (> 2 s -several min). The complexity of seismic velocity structures, the low quantity and low quality of available signal onsets and non-optimal seismic network geometry severely impedes the source location procedure; thus, rendering source processes characterization challenging. Therefore, we constrain sources' locations using the prominent waveform amplitude attenuation pattern characteristic of near-source area (< about 50 m) landslide-induced microseismic events. A local magnitude scale for clayey landslides (M L−LS ) is empirically calibrated using calibration shots and hammer blow data. The derived M L−LS returns daily landslideinduced microseismicity rates that positively correlate with higher average daily displacement rates. However, high temporal and spatial resolution analyses of the landslide dynamics and hydrology are required to better decipher the potential relations linking landslide-induced microseismic signals to landslide deformation.

Obtaining robust event catalogs in regions of low seismicity can be timeconsuming, because quality events are less frequent and sensor coverage is generally sparse. Optimizing event detection and location in such regions is all the more crucial because these areas tend to host a higher density of sensitive infrastructures. The methodology proposed consists of reprocessing existing data recorded by a permanent network and boosting the final catalog resolution by temporarily deploying portable sparse mini-arrays in the target area. Sonogram analysis is applied on both existing and new datasets to detect waveforms barely emerging from the background noise. A visual interactive event analysis module is used to test for phase picking, event association, waveform cross correlation, and location ambiguities. It also estimates back azimuth and slowness when sparse array data are available. The method is applied to a low-seismicity region in the western Swiss Molasse basin where two sparse miniarrays were temporarily deployed. The detection of earthquakes is improved by a factor of 9 when reprocessing four yrs (2009-2013) of available data recorded by two accelerometers and one broadband station in a 2500 km 2 target area. Magnitude estimations are empirically calibrated over four magnitude units, down to −1:7 M L , lowering the existing catalog completeness by close to one magnitude unit. After validating picking and location accuracies with a standard residual-based scheme, 174 newly detected events are relocated, illuminating zones of previously undetected microseismic activity.

Seismic hazard assessment of slow active fault zones is challenging as usually only a few decades of sparse instrumental seismic monitoring is available to characterize seismic activity. Tectonic features linked to the observed seismicity can be mapped by seismic imaging techniques and/or geomorphological and structural evidences. In this study, we investigate a seismic lineament located in the Swiss Alpine foreland, which was discussed in previous work as being related to crustal structures carrying in size the potential of a magnitude M 6 earthquake. New, low-magnitude (-2.0 B M L B 2.5) earthquake data are used to image the spatial and temporal distribution of seismogenic features in the target area. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are applied to the waveform dataset to better constrain earthquakes distribution and source processes. Potential tectonic features responsible for the observed seismicity are modelled based on new reinterpretations of oil industry seismic profiles and recent field data in the study area. The earthquake and tectonic datasets are then integrated in a 3D model. Spatially, the seismicity correlates over 10-15 km with a N-S oriented sub-vertical fault zone imaged in seismic profiles in the Mesozoic cover units above a major decollement on top of the mechanically more rigid basement and seen in outcrops of Tertiary series east of the city of Fribourg. Observed earthquakes cluster at shallow depth (\4 km) in the sedimentary cover. Given the spatial extend of the observed seismicity, we infer the potential of a moderate size earthquake to be generated on the lineament. However, since the existence of along strike structures in the basement cannot be excluded, a maximum M 6 earthquake cannot be ruled out. Thus, the Fribourg Lineament constitutes a non-negligible source of seismic hazard in the Swiss Alpine foreland.