Proceedings of the 12th International INQUA meeting on paleoseismology, active tectonic and archaeoseismology

430 1 2 T H I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N Q U A M E E T I N G O N PA L E O S E I S M O L O G Y , A C T I V E T E C T O N I C S A N D A R C H A E O S E I S M O L O G Y ( PATA ) , O C T O B E R 6 T H - 1 1 T H , 2 0 2 4 , L O S A N D E S , C H I L E PATA Days 2024 K E Y W O R D S Intraplate paleoseismicity, Central Germany, Seismic Hazard, Stable Continental Regions (1) Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, k.reicherter@nug.rwth-aachen.de (2) Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Fontenay-aux- Roses Cedex, France, stephane.baize@irsn.fr *Email: k.reicherter@nug.rwth-aachen.de Reicherter, Klaus (1) Baize, Stephane (2) Steinritz, Vanessa (1) Pena-Castellnou, Sara (1) Hürtgen, Jochen (1) NEOTECTONICS AND PALEOSEISMICITY IN INTRAPLATE LOW SEISMICITY SETTINGS OF CENTRAL EUROPE (GERMANY) A B S T R A C T Intraplate regions can pose a major challenge to seismic hazard analyses due to a lack of seismicity and data on active faults, we try to overcome this problem by morphotectonic studies, paleoseismic trenching and DInSAR modelling of areas of historical seismicity of Germany in central Europe. Typically, strong earthquakes with surface ruptures are rare with recurrence of several thousands of years and maximum earthquake magnitudes origin from seismic observations spanning the last c. 100 years. Often, these are then incorporated into the hazard calculations. This abstract presents the findings and current state-of-practice in paleoseismicity in these regions in Stable Continental Regions (SCR) or Active Intraplate Regions (AIR) with recurrence periods of more than several thousands of years. We present our new paleoseismic data from the Rhine Grabens in German, and we critically comment on recurrence periods in SCR in terms of seismic hazard. I N T R O D U C T I O N Silent and slow faults pose one of the most intriguing challenges in active tectonic research, especially in Stable Continental Regions (SCR) or Active Intraplate Regions (AIR) such as Central Europe, Australia, parts of North America, and Asia. The term "silent faults" is used variably, referring either to a lack of seismic activity, the absence of seismogenic faulting (possibly involving creep), or the minimal geomorphic and geological visibility of faults. Slow active faults, with slip rates of ≤ 0.1 mm/ yr, typically exhibit limited topographic expression in humid or moderate climates. The slip rate of a fault is a crucial parameter