Assessing the Seismic Hazard Posed to the City of Athens (Greece) by Using Seismological, Geological and Geodetic Observations

The existence of active faults near large cities poses significant risk to the life and property of itsinhabitants as well as to its public infrastructure. Here, we propose to investigate the interplay between seismicity, active faulting and interseismic strain accumulation within a radius of 50 km around the metropolitan area of Athens, the capital of Greece. In order to accomplish this task we will utilize three different datasets: (a) earthquake waveforms recorded by the permanent national seismic network, (b) a high-resolution (~5 m) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the study area, and (c) GPS velocity observations that will be used for the calculation of strain rates. Precise relative locations will be calculated and will contribute towards delineating active faults, while analysis of the DEM and field surveys will help constrain further the characteristics of these faults and classify them as "active" or "potentially active". Strain rates distribution will also be correlated with the identified faults in an effort to investigate their interseismic strain accumulation. An improved earthquake catalog and active faults database for the broader Athens metropolitan area will be the main products of this research. It should be noted that the work proposed here will be conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the National Observatory of Athens (Greece) and GFZ Potsdam (Germany).