The 7 September 1999 Athens 5.9 Ms earthquake: remote sensing and digital elevation model inputs towards identifying the seismic fault

The meisoseismal area of the (Ms=5.9) earthquake of 7 September 1999 in Ath ens, Greece was localized in the western suburbs of the city ( 38.1 degrees N, 23.7 degreesE) where no active faulting had been mapped before. Here we show that remote sensing can provide conclusive evidence for the identifica tion of seismogenic structure. Methods applied were: interpretation of Land sat TM images, digital overlays of field observations and aftershock distri bution patterns, construction of a 20-m DEM and application of shading tech niques, and comparison with fault plane solutions and dominant slip directi on in striation populations. Our results imply that the earthquake source i s located within the NW-SE trending valley in the Fili region across the so uth foothills of Mt Parnitha. The earthquake occurred along a normal fault with 110 degreesN-130 degreesN strike, which exhibits typical morphotectoni c features of an active fault.