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The Beni Haoua, Algeria, Mw 4.9 earthquake: source parameters, engineering, and seismotectonic implications

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Abstract

A moderate Mw 4.9 earthquake struck the Beni Haoua (Algeria) coastal area on April 25, 2012. The mainshock was largely recorded by the accelerograph network of the Centre National de Recherche Appliquée en Génie Parasismique (CGS). The same day the earthquake occurred, eight mobile short period stations were deployed through the epicentral area. In this study, we use accelerogram and seismogram data recorded by these two networks. We combined the focal mechanism built from the first motion of P waves and from waveform inversion, and the distribution of aftershocks to well constrain the source parameters. The mainshock is located with a shallow focal depth, ∼9 km, and the focal mechanism shows a nearly pure left lateral strike slip motion, with total seismic moment of 2.8 × 1016 N.m (Mw = 4.9). The aftershocks mainly cluster on a narrow NS strip, starting at the coast up to 3–4 km inland. This cluster, almost vertical, is concentrated between 6 and 10 km depth. The second part of this work concerns the damage distribution and estimated intensity in the epicentral area. The damage distribution is discussed in connection with the observed maximum strong motion. The acceleration response spectrum with 5 % damping of the mainshock and aftershocks give the maximum amplitude in high frequency which directly affects the performance of the high-frequency structures. Finally, we tie this earthquake with the seismotectonic of the region, leading to conclude that it occurred on a N–S transform zone between two major compressional fault zones oriented NE–SW.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the CGS (Algeria) and EOST Strasbourg (France). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their critical and constructive review; their comments help to strongly improve the manuscript. We also thank M. Meghraoui (EOST), A. Ayadi and A. Harbi (CRAAG), F. Thouvenot (IsTerre), B. Delouis (Nice University), and Anieri M. Morales Rivera (University of Miami) for their help. The figures were generated by the Generic Mapping Tool (GMT) code developed by Wessel and Smith (1998).

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Correspondence to Khadidja Abbes.

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Abbes, K., Dorbath, L., Dorbath, C. et al. The Beni Haoua, Algeria, Mw 4.9 earthquake: source parameters, engineering, and seismotectonic implications. J Seismol 20, 655–667 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-015-9549-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-015-9549-1

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