A comprehensive database of active and potentially-active continental faults in Chile at 1:25,000 scale

Abstract

In seismically-active regions, mapping active and potentially-active faults is the first step to assess seismic hazards and site selection for paleoseismic studies that will estimate recurrence rates. Here, we present a comprehensive database of active and potentially-active continental faults in Chile based on existing studies and new mapping at 1:25,000 scale using geologic and geomorphic criteria and digital elevation models derived from TanDEM-X and LiDAR data. The database includes 958 fault strands grouped into 17 fault systems and classified based on activity (81 proved, 589 probable, 288 possible). The database is a contribution to the world compilation of active faults with applications among others in seismic hazard assessments, territorial planning, paleoseismology, geodynamics, landscape evolution processes, geothermal exploration, and in the study of feedbacks between continental deformation and the plate-boundary seismic cycle along subduction zones.