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Article
Earthquakes in Switzerland and Surrounding Regions during 2005
Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae
  • Nicolas Deichmann, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Manfred Baer, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Jochen Braunmiller, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Stephan Husen, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Donat Fäh, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Domenico Giardini, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Philipp Kästli, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Urs Kradolfer, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
  • Stefan Wiemer, Swiss Seismological Service, Institute of Geophysics
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2006
Keywords
  • earthquakes,
  • focal mechanisms,
  • moment tensors,
  • Switzerland
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00015-006-1201-1
Disciplines
Abstract

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2005. During this period, 611 earthquakes, 96 quarry blasts and two landslides were detected and located in the region under consideration. With 19 events with ML ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2005 was below the average over the last 30 years. However, with the earthquake of Vallorcine (ML 4.9) located just across the border to France, between Martigny and Chamonix, and the two earthquakes of Rumisberg and Brugg (ML 4.1), located in the lower crust beneath the Jura Mountains of northern Switzerland, the year 2005 saw three events that produced shaking of intensity IV and V (EMS98). Of the 611 recorded earthquakes more than 110 events are aftershocks of the Vallorcine quake. Moreover, 51 events occurred within two days at the end of August during a period of very intense rainfalls. The epicenters of these events were concentrated in several clusters distributed over a wide area of central Switzerland, and their focal depths were shallow, so that they most likely constitute a case of precipitationinduced seismicity.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, v. 99, issue 3, p. 443-452

Citation Information
Nicolas Deichmann, Manfred Baer, Jochen Braunmiller, Stephan Husen, et al.. "Earthquakes in Switzerland and Surrounding Regions during 2005" Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae Vol. 99 Iss. 3 (2006) p. 443 - 452
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jochen-braunmiller/13/