Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; February 2006; v. 96; no. 1; p. 59-68; DOI: 10.1785/0120050108
© 2006 Seismological Society of America
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Surface Deformation Associated with the Mw 6.4, 24 February 2004 Al Hoceima, Morocco, Earthquake Deduced from InSAR: Implications for the Active Tectonics along North Africa

Ziyadin Cakir1, Mustapha Meghraoui1, Ahmet M. Akoglu2, Nasser Jabour3, Samir Belabbes1 and Lahsen Ait-Brahim4

1 EOST—Institut de Physique du Globe
5, rue René Descartes
67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France
ziyadin.cakir{at}eost.u-strasbg.fr
 (Z.C., M.M., S.B.)

2 Eurasian Institute of Earth Sciences ITU
Istanbul, Turkey
 (A.M.A.)

3 Laboratoire de Geophysique
CNRST
Rabat, Morocco
 (N.J.)

4 des Sciences de la Terre
Universite Mohammed V
Morocco
 (L.A.-B.)

We study the surface deformation associated with the 24 February 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake (Mw 6.4) that recently affected the Rif Mountains of Morocco. The coseismic displacement field is mapped using synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) with the Envisat (ESA) satellite data acquired in the ascending and descending modes. Our analysis and modeling of InSAR data suggest that the earthquake is associated with a northwest–southeast-trending right-lateral, apparently blind strike-slip fault with a seismic moment reaching 6.8 x 1018 N m. This result is in contrast with the north-northeast–south-southwest left-lateral fault mechanism inferred from the modeling of seismic waves. Thrust-and-fold structures of the Rif Mountains developed during the Tertiary period, but the recent significant seismic events and late-Quaternary deformation indicate east–west extension accommodated by north–south-trending normal and northwest–southeast- and northeast– southwest-trending conjugate strike-slip faults. The active deformation illustrates the fragmentation of the Rif Mountain range due to the Africa–Iberia collision and west- southwestward escape tectonics.






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