Empirical relationships among earthquake magnitude, surface ruptures and maximum displacement in the broader Aegean Region.

Palaeoseismological studies carried out in the Aegean Region during the past decade or so, mainly from faults lying in mainland Greece, are reconsidered and their results re-evaluated. We focus on active normal faults and particularly on the principal seismotectonic parameters, such as the coseismic displacement associated to past events and the length of the seismogenic structures. Based on new both field observations and existing data and following few assumptions, we attempt to calculate the maximum seismic moment possibly associated to past earthquakes and documented from palaeoseismological studies. These seismic moments are compared with those estimated from historical earthquakes for which both maximum vertical displacement and surface rupture length are known. Similarities and differences of the two datasets are discussed, showing that palaeoseismologically-calculated magnitudes and displacements per event appear to be systematically underestimated in the Aegean Region as well as their seismic potential. For selected faults, we also obtained reliable values of the recurrence interval of moderate to large earthquakes and estimates of the slip-rate. Differences in these parameters are attributed to the different geotectonic settings.