The seismic activity in the western part of the Corinth Rift (Greece) over the period 2000-2007, monitored by a dense network of three-component stations, is analysed in terms of multiplets and high precision relocation using double difference techniques. This detailed analysis provides new insights into the geometry of faults at depth, the nature and the structure of the active zone at 6-8 km depth previously interpreted as a possible detachment, and more generally into the rifting process. The seismicity exhibits a complex structure, strongly varying along the rift axis. The detailed picture of the seismic zone below the rift indicates that its shallower part (at depths of 6-8 km) is 1-1.5 km thick with a complex microstructure, and that its deeper part (at depths of 9-12 km) gently dipping to the north (10-20 • ) is 0.1-0.3 km thick with a microstructure consistent with the general slope of the structure. Although the nature of this seismic zone remains an open question, the presence of seismicity beneath the main active area, the strong variability of the structure along the rift over short distances and the complex microstructure of the shallower part revealed by the multiplet analysis are arguments against the hypothesis of a mature detachment under the rift: this active zone more likely represents a layer of diffuse deformation. The geometry of the mapped active faults is not well defined at depth, as no seismicity is observed between 0 and 4 km, except for the Aigion Fault rooting in the seismic layer at 6 km depth with a dip of 60 • . A distinct cloud of seismicity may be associated with the antithetic Kalithea Fault, on which the 1909 Fokis earthquake (M s = 6.3) may have occurred. The link between the 1995 rupture (M s = 6.2) and the faults known at the surface has been better constrained, as the relocated seismicity favours a rupture on an offshore, blind fault dipping at 30 • , rather than on the deeper part of the East Helike Fault. Consequently, the 1995 event is expected to have decreased the Coulomb stress on the East Helike Fault. To explain these seismic observations along with the geodetic observations, a new mechanical model for the rifting process in this region is proposed, involving non-elastic, mostly aseismic uniform NS opening below the rift axis, coupled with the downward and northward growth of a yet immature detachment: the reported GPS rates would mainly result from this deep, silent source, and the seismicity would reveal the detachment position, not yet connected to the ductile lower crust. In such a model, the strong fluctuations of microseismicity would result from small strain instabilities, undetected by continuous GPS and possibly related to pore pressure transients.

S U M M A R YThis paper is devoted to the simultaneous determination of the coseismic and postseismic gravitational changes caused by the great 2004 December 26 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake from the time-variable global gravity fields recovered by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. Furthermore, a complete modelling of the elasto-gravitational response of a self-gravitating, spherically layered, elastic earth model is carried out using a normal-modes summation for comparison with the observed coseismic gravitational change. Special attention is paid to the ocean mass redistribution. Special care is paid during the inversion of the data to avoid contamination of tectonic gravity changes by ocean tidal model errors, seasonal and interannual signals originating from continental hydrology and oceanic circulation as well as contamination of the coseismic gravity change by the postseismic relaxation. We use a 4.6-yr-long time-series of global gravity solutions including 26 months of postseismic data, provided by the Groupe de Recherche en Géodésie Spatiale (GRGS). For comparison, the Release-04 solutions of the Center for Space Research (CSR) are also investigated after a spectral windowing or a Gaussian spatial smoothing. Results are shown both in terms of geoid height changes and gravity variations. Coseismic and postseismic gravitational changes estimated from the different gravity solutions are globally similar, although their spatial extent and amplitude depend on the type of filter used in the processing of GRACE fields. The highest signal-to-noise ratio is found with the GRGS solutions. The postseismic signature has a spectral content closer to the GRACE bandwidth than the coseismic signature and is therefore better detected by GRACE. The coseismic signature consists mainly of a strong gravity decrease east of the Sunda trench, in the Andaman Sea. A gravity increase is also detected at a smaller scale, west of the trench. The model for the coseismic gravity changes agrees well with the coseismic signature estimated from GRACE, regarding the overall shape and orientation, location with respect to the trench and order of magnitude. Coseismic gravity changes are followed by a postseismic relaxation that are well fitted by an increasing exponential function with a mean relaxation time of 0.7 yr. The total postseismic gravity change consists of a large-scale positive anomaly centred above the trench and extending over 15 • of latitude along the subduction. After 26 months, the coseismic gravity decrease has been partly compensated by the postseismic relaxation, but a negative anomaly still remains south of Phuket. A dominant gravity increase extends over 15 • of latitude west of the trench, being maximal south of the epicentre area. By investigating analyses of two global hydrology models and one ocean general circulation model, we show that our GRACE estimates of the coseismic and postseismic gravitational changes are almost not biased by interannual variations originating from continental hyd...

International audienceThe aim of the SI-Hex project (acronym for « Sismicité Instrumentale de l’Hexagone ») is to provide a catalogue of seismicity for metropolitan France and the French marine economic zone for the period 1962–2009 by taking into account the contributions of the various seismological networks and observatories from France and its neighbouring countries. The project has been launched jointly by the Bureau Central Sismologique Français (CNRS-University/BCSF) and the Laboratoire de Détection et de Géophysique (CEA-DAM/LDG). One of the main motivations of the project is to provide the end user with the best possible information on location and magnitude of each earthquake. So far, due to the various procedures in use in the observatories, the different locations and magnitudes of earthquakes located in the SI-Hex zone were presenting large discrepancies. In the 2014 version of the catalogue, 1D localizations of hypocentres performed with a unique computational scheme and covering the whole 1962–2009 period constitute the backbone of the catalogue (SI-Hex solutions). When available, they are replaced by more precise localizations made at LDG or, for recent times, by the regional observatories within: 1) the French Alps, 2) the southernmost Alps and the Mediterranean domain including Corsica, 3) the Pyrenees, and 4) the Armorican massif. Moment magnitudes Mw are systematically reported in the SI-Hex catalogue. They are computed from coda-wave analysis of the LDG records for most Mw>3.4 events, and are converted from local magnitudes ML for smaller magnitude events. Finally, special attention is paid to the question of discrimination between natural and artificial seismic events in order to produce a catalogue for direct use in seismic hazard analysis and seismotectonic investigations. The SI-Hex catalogue is accessible on the web site www.franceseisme.fr and contains 38,027 earthquake hypocentres, together with their seismic moment magnitudes Mw