Earthquake swarms frozen in an exhumed hydrothermal system (Bolfin Fault Zone, Chile)

Masoch, Simone; Pennacchioni, Giorgio; Fondriest, Michele; Gomila, Rodrigo; Poli, Piero; Cembrano, José; Di Toro, Giulio

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-23-2025

Articles | Volume 16, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-23-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-23-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 1

Research article

|

14 Jan 2025

Research article |

| 14 Jan 2025

Earthquake swarms frozen in an exhumed hydrothermal system (Bolfin Fault Zone, Chile)

Simone Masoch, Giorgio Pennacchioni, Michele Fondriest, Rodrigo Gomila, Piero Poli, José Cembrano, and Giulio Di Toro

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-23-2025-supplement

Data sets

Electron backscatter diffraction data for epidote-rich sheared veins from the Bolfin Fault Zone (Atacama Fault System, Chile) Simone Masoch and Giorgio Pennacchioni https://doi.org/10.25430/researchdata.cab.unipd.it.00000898

Short summary

We investigate an exhumed hydrothermal system in the Atacama Desert (Chile) to understand how earthquake swarms form. Wall rocks near fault veins experienced high-stress pulses, and fault veins underwent cyclic crack opening and shearing. These findings suggest ancient earthquake swarm activity, from dynamic crack propagation to repeated crack opening and shearing. This system represents a unique geological record of earthquake swarms, providing insights into their initiation and evolution.