Trench at the Rouvière Fault (Ardèche) for paleoseismological prospecting following the Teil earthquake of November 11, 2019

Following the Teil earthquake (5.2 Mlv) of November 11, 2019, paleoseismological investigations, supported by funding from the Insu-Tellus program, were launched in June 2020. About fifteen trenche studies have been carried out on the northern section of the Rouviere fault. One of these trenches can be seen on this picture. The vertical white band could be a trace of seismic activity indicating that the Rouviere Fault has already broken before the November 2019 earthquake. These investigations are conducted in particular within the framework of the transversal seismicity action of Resif, a national research infrastructure dedicated to the observation and understanding of the internal Earth structure and dynamics. Resif is based on observation networks of high technological level, composed of seismological, geodetic and gravimetric instruments deployed densely throughout France. The data collected allow to study with a high spatio-temporal resolution the ground deformation, the superficial and deep structures, the seismicity at the local and global scale and the natural hazards, especially seismic, on the French territory. Resif integrates with European (EPOS - European Plate Observing System) and worldwide instruments that allow to image the interior of the Earth as a whole and to study many natural phenomena.