Problems of Engineering Seismology: article

EARTHQUAKE FOCAL MECHANISMS AND GEODYNAMIC MODELING OF THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CAUCASUS
SHUMLYANSKAYA LYUDMILA ALEKSANDROVNA1
BURMIN VALERY YURIEVICH2
1 Institute of Geophysics by S.I. Subbotin name of NAS of Ukraine, Ukraine, 03860, Kiev, Akad. Palladina Avenue 32 2 Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia, 123242, Moscow, ul. Bolshaya Gruzinskaya 10, building 1
Journal: Problems of Engineering Seismology
Tome: 48
Number: 4
Year: 2021
Pages: 89-113
UDK: 550.34
DOI: 10.21455/VIS2021.4-5
Keywords: CAUCASUS, GEODYNAMICS, DEEP EARTHQUAKES, EARTHQUAKE MECHANISMS
Аnnotation: The question of the existence of foci of deep earthquakes in the Caucasus is extremely important both from the point of view of geodynamics and from the point of view of seismic hazard and seismic zoning of the region. Earlier it was believed that earthquakes could occur in the Caucasus, the depth of which does not exceed 150 km. The existence of deeper earthquakes in the Caucasus has not previously been discussed in the scientific literature. In recent years, the discussion on this issue has found its reflection in the works of various authors. However, consideration of the question of the existence of deep foci only on the basis of seismological data does not give an idea of the geodynamic reasons that could cause the accumulation of energy and its discharge in the form of earthquakes in the deep bowels of the Caucasus. The article discusses the geodynamic of the Caucasus with the involvement of modern works on seismic tomography and deformation conditions for fixing the movements of the earth's crust at reference GPS stations. Analysis of the focal mechanisms of earthquakes in the North and Central Caucasus obtained for different depths, data on the distribution of hypocenters, seismotomographic sections and geodynamic conditions made it possible to choose the optimal versions of geodynamic models and draw appropriate conclusions about the causes of earthquakes both at great depths and in the crust of the region under study.