The cryptic seismic potential of blind faults revealed by off-fault geomorphology, Pichilemu, Chile. Julius Jara-Muñoz (
[email protected] ) University of Potsdam Daniel Melnick Austral University of Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8397-7391 Anne Socquet Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, IFSTTAR, ISTerre https://orcid.org/0000- 0002-9208-7136 Joaquin Cortés-Aranda Universidad de Concepcion Dominik Brill University Koeln Manfred Strecker Universität Potsdam Article Keywords: seismic hazards, seismic potential, blind faults, off-fault geomorphology, Pichilemu, Chile Posted Date: October 7th, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-86121/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License The cryptic seismic potential of blind faults revealed by off-fault geomorphology, Pichilemu, Chile. J. Jara-Muñoz1,2*, D. Melnick2,3, A. Socquet4, J. Cortés-Aranda2,5, D. Brill6, M. R. Strecker1 1Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. 2Millennium Nucleus: The Seismic Cycle Along Subduction Zones, Valdivia, Chile. 3Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, TAQUACh, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile. 4 Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, IFSTTAR, ISTerre, Grenoble, France. 5Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile. 6 Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Germany. email:
[email protected] Abstract In seismically-active regions, mapping capable faults and estimating their recurrence time is the first step to assess seismic hazards. Fault maps are commonly based on geologic and geomorphic features evident at the surface; however, mapping blind faults and estimating their seismic potential is challenging because on-fault diagnostic features are absent.