A moderate earthquake (M-w = 6.2) caused substantial damage in the town of
Dinar at 17:57 UT, on October 1, 1995. Surface rupture has been observed to
be discontinuous for 10 km along the NW-trending Dinar fault segments. The
surface rupture has consisted of nearly vertical cracks up to several tens
of meters long and a meter wide that display linear, sigmoidal and anastom
osing geometries indicating the mechanism of displacement on the fault plan
e. Most of these cracks display a dip-slip component of displacement (0.05-
0.6 m); those with anastomosing geometries indicate a large dip-slip (>0.25
m). Sigmoidal crack patterns show both right and left strike-slip (rotatio
nal) component of displacement and a small dip-slip (<0.25 m). The geometry
of the cracks and related modes of slip suggest a 325<degrees> oriented ho
rizontal principal stress direction. This direction makes an acute angle wi
th the NW-trending plane of the Dinar fault. This angular difference is the
cause of the strike-slip (rotational) movement manifested in the surface r
upture and indicated by the focal mechanism solution of the earthquake. Und
er the influence of this horizontal principal stress direction of compressi
on, firstly en echelon cracks were formed. Then these cracks were modified
by a predominantly dip-slip displacement on the Dinar fault, the initial cr
acks were connected to each other by anastomosing cracks of a second rotati
onal phase. The rotation led the hanging-wall block of the Dinar fault to d
epart from its dip-slip orientation to an oblique southwesterly direction t
owards the Mediterranean Sea as suggested by strike and dip-slip indicating
cracks. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.