The Gulf of Aqabah has been considered one of the most seismically-active regions in the Middle East
during the last 15 years; a catalogue of 1,415 earthquakes (duration magnitude Md ≥ 2.8) during 1985-
1995, compiled by Al-Arifi (1996) and Al-Shaabi (1998), mainly based on data from King Saud University.
Seismic Studies Center (SSC), Saudi Arabia, for 28°- 30°N and 30°-36°E, has been used for studying local
aftershock migration. Aftershocks migrated northwards about 60 km for the 1993 sequence and about
70 km for the 1995 sequence and also to shallow focal depths (15 km focal depth for 1993 main-shock).
Depths reduced as time elapsed until reaching 2 km for the last strong aftershock (Md=5.2) which occurred
during the late stage of the sequence. The 1993 main-shock caused a redistribution of stresses to the parallel
faults’ segment where the largest 1993 aftershock occurred triggering these faults’ segment to become an
area of stress nucleation and generated the 1995 main-shock. |
