THE 1993 KILLARI (LATUR), CENTRAL INDIA, EARTHQUAKE - AN EXAMPLE OF FAULT REACTIVATION IN THE PRECAMBRIAN CRUST

The September 30, 1993, Killari event in central India is a rare incid ence of an earthquake occurring within a Precambrian craton, A pertine nt question concerning seismicity in such regions is whether a preexis ting fault exists and, if so, what is its reactivation interval? Our s tudies in the 1993 rupture zone suggest that the Killari earthquake oc curred in a region of previous seismic activity, Older thrust sheets a nd fault gouge, presumably formed during previous episodes, were expos ed in a deep trench, The studies also indicated an obsequent fault-lin e scarp, aligned with the current rupture zone, The morphological feat ures in the area suggest mass removal of the upper part of the hanging wall on the southwestern side of the rupture, Existence of a prominen t northwest-striking structure passing through the epicentral zone is revealed in the digital Landsat data, These data, together with the sp atial trend of historic earthquakes along the northwest-striking struc ture, reinforce the argument that the earthquake at Killari is related to the reactivation of a preexisting fault.