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Active folding in the Tenes region (Tell Atlas, Algeria): modelling the 1922 earthquake fault-related fold (Mw 6.2)

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Abstract

We study the Tenes Abou El Hassan (TAEH) fault-related fold of the Tell Atlas (the site of the 1922 Mw 6.2 earthquake) using field investigations combined with satellite image processing. The 1922 earthquake is also revisited through previous reports, publications and contemporaneous newspapers in order to locate the area of maximum ground motion and its relation to the active TAEH fault-related fold. The analysis of high-resolution (0.5 m) satellite imagery (panchromatic Pleiades tri-stereo images) allows the accurate study in tectonic geomorphology and the characterization of active and seismogenic deformation. High-resolution DEMs obtained from Pleiades images highlight alluvial and marine terraces with cumulative uplift during the Upper Pleistocene–Holocene period and allowed the identification of geomorphological markers along the active fold with recognition of complex tectonic structures. The fault-related fold is modelled using both elastic (Okada 1992) and kinematic (Trishear) approaches using balanced cross-sections that reveal 1.2 mm/year shortening rate during the Upper Pleistocene–Holocene. Uplift rate calculated using marine and alluvial terrace altitudes is ~0.3 mm/year during the Upper Pleistocene along the Allalah Quaternary basin and the coastal zone reaching ~1 mm/year during the Holocene. The earthquake geology and correlation between surface deformation and seismotectonic modelling provides additional constraints on the 1922 earthquake fault parameters and related seismic hazard assessment in the Tell Atlas of Algeria.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the French–Algerian CNRS-DPGRF project Déformations actives et interaction entre failles sismiques du nord de l’Algérie and the IGCP-659 UNESCO-IUGS project “Seismic Hazard and Risk in Africa”. SB received PNE funding for PhD preparation from the Algerian Ministry of Scientific Research. We are grateful to the ISIS (CNES) for access to Pleiades 1B satellite images and to Agence du Service Géologique de l'Algérie (ASGA) for assistance to field documentations. The access to the 1922 earthquake damage distribution is based on investigations at the IPG Strasbourg archive section (mainly reports and newspapers). We also benefited from the assistance of Assia Harbi (CRAAG, Algiers) for the analysis of earthquake damage distribution. We thank Elise Kali (IPG, Strasbourg) for her assistance in the Pleiades images processing and Jugurtha Kariche (USTHB, Algiers) for help in elastic modelling. Some figures were prepared using the public domain GMT software (Wessel and Smith 1998).

Funding

This research was supported by the French–Algerian CNRS-DPGRF project Déformations actives et interaction entre failles sismiques du nord de l’Algérie and the IGCP-659 UNESCO-IUGS project “Seismic Hazard and Risk in Africa”. SB received PNE funding for PhD preparation from the Algerian Ministry of Scientific Research. We are grateful to the ISIS (CNES, France) for access to Pleiades 1B satellite images and to the Agence du Service Géologique de l'Algérie (ASGA) for assistance to field documentations.

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S. Bagdi-Issaad, M. Meghraoui and A. Nedjari did the field investigations and data collection. S. Bagdi-Issaad and M. Meghraoui contributed to the data analysis and modelling. S. Bagdi-Issaad, M. Meghraoui and A. Nedjari prepared the manuscript. The first draft of the manuscript was written by S. Bagdi-Issaad and M. Meghraoui, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mustapha Meghraoui.

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Article highlights

• Reappraisal of damage distribution of the 1922 earthquake• Use of high-resolution Pleiades tri-stereo images in tectonic geomorphology • Application of kinematic and elastic modelling to an active and seismogenic fold in the Tell Atlas of Algeria

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Bagdi-Issaad, S., Meghraoui, M. & Nedjari, A. Active folding in the Tenes region (Tell Atlas, Algeria): modelling the 1922 earthquake fault-related fold (Mw 6.2). J Seismol 25, 783–801 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-021-10005-4

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