The role of interplate locking on the seismic reactivation of upper plate faults on the subduction margin of northern Chile.

ABSTRACT: Quaternary deformation in the northern Chile forearc is controlled by trench parallel shortening along reactivated Mesozoic faults. Dextral strikes-slip is expressed in NW-SE striking faults of the Atacama Fault System, and reverse displacement dominates in E-W faults. This deformation results of the convergence in a concave-seaward continental margin. On September 11th, 2020, a M_w 6.3 earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks took place in the coastal region of northern Chile, revealing the reactivation of the deepest segment of a WNW-ESE striking upper plate fault. The reactivation of this fault occurred after the M_w 8.1 Iquique earthquake, and it seems to be connected to a N-S interplate locking segmentation of the plate margin, which is clearly shown by the lockin

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8563723 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature