The 1998 Bovec-Krn mountain (Slovenia) earthquake sequence

We study the 1998 Bovec-Kin mountain (Slovenia) earthquake sequence by comb ining hypocenters relocation, strong motion inversion, digital elevation mo delling and field geology. The main shock (M-s = 5.7), a 12 km right latera l strike-slip event on the Dinaric fault system, occurred on a sub-vertical fault plane. The rupture, confined between 3 and 9 km depth, with no evide nce of surface faulting, propagated bilaterally within two structural barri ers. The northwestern barrier is at the junction between Dinaric and Alpine structures where there is a sharp change in the geometry of faulting. The southeastern barrier is within the Dinaric system and its surface expressio n corresponds to the Tolminka-spring perched basin, a I km restraining step -over. At this site, the Bovec-Kin earthquake-fault overlaps with a 30 km s trike-slip fault segment that is free of aftershocks and could be undergoin g an increase of stress. This fault system represents the northern branch o f the Idrija right-lateral fault.