Neotectonics of Boconó fault, Western Venezuela

P wave velocity tomography of the Venezuelan region from local arrival times

“…The objective of this work is to extract irdomtion from reported arrival times of local earthquakes to the Venezuelan seismological network to produce a P wave velodty tomographic image of the Venezuelan lithosphere. The breadth of the Venezuelan seismological network (Figure 2), the distribution of the seismic zone, and the depth of the earthquakes and refraction paths allowed the lithosphere to be targeted with a spatial resolution of the order of a degree below an area centered at the Bocon6-Mor6n-El Pilar fault system [Schubert, 1982[Schubert, , 1984 Because of the spatial resolution and the moderate size of the study area, the tomographic problem was treated by solving the normal damped least squares equations [Aki and Lee, 1976]. This method produces a better qualified solution than the row-action methods [Censor, 1981] such as ART (algebraic reconstruction technique) or SIRT (simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique) or the iterative matrix solvers [Nolet, 1993] In the mantle, temperature seems to be the physical parameter with major influence on lateral variations of the seismic velocities.…”

Submarine Paleoseismology Along Populated Transform Boundaries: The Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden Fault, Canal du Sud, Haiti, and the North Anatolian Fault, Marmara Sea, Turkey

“…Gulf, Haiti (Mann et al, 1995), and the El Pilar transform fault along the Venezuelan borderland (e.g., Schubert, 1982;Escalona et al, 2011). Shallow earthquakes that are small compared to great subduction earthquakes occur relatively frequently along these fault systems, but they can be disproportionally damaging as a result of both shaking and tsunami generation.…”

Determination of Mmax from Background Seismicity and Moment Conservation

“…An event in 1812 caused a lot of damage, devastating the town of Mérida; it was felt as far away as Caracas, with the Boconó fault a possible source (Altez, 2005;Audemard et al, 2008), though this has not been confirmed. From scaling relations of fault length, M max has been suggested to be between 7.2 and 7.9 (Schubert, 1982).…”