Seismicity and Seismotectonics of the Mitidja Basin Southern Edge (Tell Atlas, Algeria): Case Study of the Hammam Melouane Region

Abstract

Many moderate to large historical and instrumental events have been documented in the Mitidja basin, affecting in particular the southern edge of the active Quaternary Mitidja basin, which is composed of nearly NE–SW-trending fault system. The earthquake catalogue reports that the Hammam Melouane region has experienced several moderate seismic events such as those of 8 February 1937 (I0 = V), 20 July 1975 (I0 = V–VI), 29 September 1981 (I0 = V) and 17 December 1986 (I0 = V). Recently, between 2013 and 2016, this area experienced three moderate earthquakes with a series of aftershocks. In this paper, we present an analysis of the seismic sequences that occurred in the Hammam Melouane Geothermal Spring area on 17 July 2013 (ML 4.9), 23 December 2014 (ML 5.3) and 10 February 2016 (Mw 4.8), about 3–7 km apart, at hypocentral depths of 11.5 km, 19.0 km and 18.0 km, respec- tively, with centroid depth of 5 km for the first main shock. Ninety- seven events with local magnitude ranging between ML 0.9 and ML 5.3 were recorded and analyzed. The series of aftershocks display two clusters, trending N–S for the 2013 event and NE–SW for the 2014 event, located at shallow depths of 1.5–14 km and 18–28 km, respectively. The event distribution shows variability in faulting, combining strike-slip and thrust focal mechanisms of the main events, leading us to hypothesize a simultaneous interaction between two geological active structures represented by the * N–S- to NE–SW-trending faults belonging to the southern Mitidja fault system. On one hand, the computed DCFF indeed supports and strengthens the fault interaction model between the three events. On the other hand, the analysis of the post-seismic stress distribution caused by fluid circulation reveals that the 2013 and 2014 events seem to have caused a poroelastic stress relaxation and thus influenced the occurrence of the 2016 main shock.