The earthquake in the Swabian Jura of 16 November 1911 and present concepts of seismotectonics

doi:10.1016/0040-1951(79)90072-6

Tectonophysics

Volume 53, Issues 3–4, 20 March 1979, Pages 279-288

https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(79)90072-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

Beginning with the Swabian Jura earthquake in 1911 the seismic activity in Central Europe is concentrated to this area. A comparison with other events of the same epicentral region shows that the largest earthquake in Germany has the character of a left-lateral horizontal strike slip striking N — NNE. The focal parameters can be assumed within the following intervalls: Seismic moment M_o = 1…8·10¹⁷ Nm; focal area F_o = 18…53 km²; average dislocation d_o = 20…53 cm and stress drop Δp_o = 13…19 bar.

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Cited by (13)

Seismotectonic evidence for present-day transtensional reactivation of the slowly deforming Hegau-Bodensee Graben in the northern foreland of the Central Alps
2023, Tectonophysics
Citation Excerpt :
In the Hegau region, the sedimentation of Molasse deposits was accompanied by volcanism during Middle and Late Miocene times (Lippolt et al., 1963; Wimmenauer, 1974; Schreiner, 1992). The volcanic field in this region coincides with the intersection of two fault zones (see Fig. 1), the N–S trending Albstadt Shear Zone (Schneider, 1979; Reinecker and Schneider, 2002; Mader et al., 2021) and the roughly NW–SE trending Freiburg–Bonndorf–Bodensee Fault Zone (Egli et al., 2017 with references therein; see further outline below). The latter fault zone is traceable for several tens of kilometers passing through the crystalline basement of the Black Forest Massif into the Upper Rhine Graben (Fig. 1) and thus represents a major crustal-scale discontinuity.
This study presents a seismotectonic analysis of the Miocene-aged Hegau-Bodensee Graben, a major tectonic element in the northern foreland of the European Central Alps. The graben is characterized by comparatively low strain rates and low-to-moderate seismicity. Our study builds on the seismological analysis of earthquakes recorded by a recently densified seismometer network. The derived high-precision absolute and relative hypocenter relocations allow to identify seismogenic structures in the pre-Mesozoic basement, which we relate to bounding faults on either side of the NW-SE striking graben. A cluster of seismicity on the SW side of the graben is associated with the previously mapped Neuhausen Fault. In contrast, the seismogenic, SW-dipping bounding faults on the opposite side of the graben, between the extinct Hegau volcanic field and the Bodanrück peninsula of Lake Constance, cannot be associated with any known fault. A set of 51 focal mechanisms allows for a high-resolution analysis of kinematics and stress regime of the graben. Our results show that the bounding faults of the graben are optimally oriented to be reactivated in transtensional mode in the present-day stress field. Slip rates across the Neuhausen and Randen Faults estimated from geodetic data are likely <0.1 mm/yr. In comparison with historical seismicity over the past 600 years and geomorphic field observations, geodetic rates of 0.1 mm/yr appear overestimated. Nevertheless, historical seismicity suggests that slip rates have the potential to generate M_W 5.0 earthquakes within this slowly deforming, transtensional fault zone in the foreland of the Alpine collision zone on timescales of several hundred years.
Stress field changes in the Rhone Valley from the Miocene to the present
1991, Tectonophysics
Study of the deformation of Neogene and Quaternary deposits in the Rhône Valley shows that the end-Miocene E-W greatest principal compression (σ₁) that deformed the Western Alps did not continue into the Quaternary, at least between Vienne and Montélimar.
The Middle to Upper Miocene molasse on the east side of the Rhône Valley was affected by E-W compression at the end of the Miocene, causing reverse faulting and N-S folding (St. Lattier and Varacieux anticlines). In contrast, the Pliocene sands and clays of the Rhône Valley are unaffected by folding and show only small normal faults with a maximum throw of l m trending between N-S and NW-SE. These were caused by E-W to NE-SW extension, which is incompatible with the E-W compression that characterises the latest-Miocene Alpine phase.
These structures are the surface expression of extension that was probably induced locally by the overall compressive regime that exists to the present day in this part of Western Europe [the “transcurrent extensional regime” of Philip (1983), USTL thesis, Montpellier]. This stress field results from the collision of the African and European plates that began in the Tertiary. West of the frontal Pennine thrust, the present-day direction of compression, which is deduced from calculated focal mechanisms and from in-situ stress measurements, varies between N-S and NW-SE.
In the Grenoble region and the northern Massif Central, the focal mechanisms indicate transcurrent movement, with σ₁ horizontal and oriented between N-S and NW-SE, and with σ₂ vertical. In the southwestern Massif Central and the Vendée, however, they indicate an extensional tectonic regime, with σ₁ vertical and σ₂ horizontal and oriented NW-SE, σ₃ trends NE-SW. This orientation is similar to that which would have caused the small Pliocene normal faulting observed in the Rhône Valley between Vienne and Montélimar.
In this part of the Rhône Valley, west of the frontal Pennine thrust, the E-W stress resulting from the collision of Apulia (Italy) with the West European plate has not been in evidence since the Pliocene. The E-W compression has been replaced by N-S to NW-SE compression resulting directly from the collision between the African and European plates transmitted through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Iberian microplate in the west and the Corsica-Sardina block in the east.
The piercing effect of the Apulian block is no longer dominant in the Rhône Valley.
The September 3, 1978, Swabian Jura earthquake
1980, test Tectonophysics
A prominent earthquake with a local magnitude M_L = 5.7 occurred in the western Swabian Jura (Albstadt, southwestern Germany) on Sept. 3, 1978. The event was followed by a large number of aftershocks. A dense network of permanent and portable seismic stations in the focal area allows a precise determination of source parameters. The main results are:
- 1.
  (1) The spatial distribution of early aftershocks during the first day is in good accordance with the fault length of the main shock (4.5 km). Aftershocks in the first week follow the fault direction of the main event, but considerably exceed its fault area in their distribution. Later aftershocks show a deviation from the original strike direction.
- 2.
  (2) The main shock and the aftershocks correspond to a faulting mechanism with a dominant strike-slip component in a Rhenian (NNE) direction.
- 3.
  (3) The macroseismic observations can be correlated with the source mechanism.
- 4.
  (4) Source parameters of the main shock are: M_B = 4.9; M_S = 5.1; M_L = 5.7; I₀ = 7–8; depth 6.5 km; focal moment 3.4 · 10¹⁶ Nm; fault area 14 km²; fault length 4.5 km; average dislocation 0.1 m. The paper should be considered as a first report on this new earthquake series.
Regional model of peak ground motion in Southwestern Germany
2022, Journal of Seismology
Seismicity and seismotectonics of the Albstadt Shear Zone in the northern Alpine foreland
2021, Solid Earth
The role of precursory structures on Tertiary deformation in the Black Forest—Hegau region
2017, International Journal of Earth Sciences

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Historical eventsThe earthquake in the Swabian Jura of 16 November 1911 and present concepts of seismotectonics

Abstract

Herdmechanismen rheinischer Beben und der seismo-tektonische Beanspruchungsplan im nordwestlichen Mittel-Europa

Sonderveröffentl Geol. Inst. Univ. Köln

Bau und Entwicklung der Südwestdeutschen Groβscholle

Beih. Geol. Jb.

Scaling relations for earthquake source parameters and magnitudes

Bull. Seism. Soc. Am.

Die mitteleuropäischen Beben vom 16. November 1911 und vom 20. Juli 1913

Publ. Bur. Centr. Ass. Int., Straβburg

Die Entwicklung eines Algol-Programms für zweidimensionale Schwerewerte. Mit Berechnungsbeispielen zu gravimetrischen Langprofilen aus dem Hohenzollerngebiet

Dissert. Univ. Stuttgart

Seismicity of Europe

Progress Report IV

Geometric patterns of active strike-slip faults and their significance as indicators for areas of energy release

Zur Seismotektonik des Westalpenbogens

Verm., Photogramm Kulturtechn

Historical events
The earthquake in the Swabian Jura of 16 November 1911 and present concepts of seismotectonics