Regional Coulomb Stress Variations in the North of Hellenic Subduction Zone

Summary The East Mediterranean region is located in the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt and is surrounded by many active tectonic units. ln this study, the stress change is investigated by the Coulomb stress analysis for north of Hellenic Subduction zone located in East Mediterranean. The data set consists of 5 strong earthquakes (Mw≥6.0) focal mechanism solutions, occurred between 2000 and 2017 for analysis. The relationships between Coulomb stress maps and other earthquakes that occurred in the region with magnitudes less than 6.0 are analyzed to interpret stress transfer. According to the calculated Coulomb stress variation maps for the study region, the stress change demonstrates generally high or positive lobes in the north-south direction, whereas the stress change reflects low or negative lobes in the east-west direction. On the other hand, the cross-sectional view indicates that high-stress regions correlate with mainshocks and their aftershocks.