GeolCarp_Vol67_No3_273

www.geologicacarpathica.com

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA

, JUNE 2016, 67, 3, 273–288

doi: 10.1515/geoca-2016-0018

A seismic source zone model for the seismic hazard

assessment of Slovakia

JOZEF HÓK

, RÓBERT KYSEL

2,3

, MICHAL KOVÁČ

, PETER MOCZO

2,3

, JOZEF KRISTEK

2,3

MIRIAM KRISTEKOVÁ

3,2

and MARTIN ŠUJAN

Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, Mlynská

dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; hok@fns.uniba.sk

Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia;

Robert.Kysel@fmph.uniba.sk

Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 840 05 Bratislava, Slovakia

EQUIS Ltd., Račianska 57, 831 02 Bratislava, Slovakia

(Manuscript received September 23, 2015; accepted in revised form March 10, 2016)

Abstract: We present a new seismic source zone model for the seismic hazard assessment of Slovakia based on a new
seismotectonic model of the territory of Slovakia and adjacent areas. The seismotectonic model has been developed
using a new Slovak earthquake catalogue (SLOVEC 2011), successive division of the large-scale geological structures

into tectonic regions, seismogeological domains and seismogenic structures. The main criteria for definitions of regions,
domains and structures are the age of the last tectonic consolidation of geological structures, thickness of lithosphere,
thickness of crust, geothermal conditions, current tectonic regime and seismic activity. The seismic source zones are
presented on a 1:1,000,000 scale map.

Key words: seismotectonic model, seismic hazard, Slovakia, Western Carpathians.

Introduction

The definition of seismic source zones and the derivation
of the parameters characterizing seismic activity in each seis-
mic source zone are crucial for a seismic hazard assessment.
A seismotectonic model of an investigated territory is a ne-

cessary basis for defining seismic source zones. The seismo-
tectonic model relevant for seismic hazard analysis for the
Slovak territory has to include adjacent tectonic areas. This
means that the eastern part of the Czech Republic, north-
eastern part of Austria, northern part of Hungary and the
southern part of Poland have to be included in a major area
for the analysis.

Probably the first seismotectonic map of Slovakia was pro

duced by Hrašna (1997). The principles applied in this work
do not correspond to present requirements. Šefara et al.

(1998) defined seismogenic zones within the Alpine–
Carpathian–Pannonian region. The zones were represented
by the Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous intraplate and oceanic
sutures which were reactivated as fault zones with various
kinematics during the Late Tertiary and are still potentially
capable of generating earthquakes. Hók et al. (2000) and

Kováč et al. (2002) applied similar approaches also including

neotectonic stress field and recent vertical movement tenden

cies. Madarás et al. (2012) defined six seismic active regions
on the Slovak territory. They characterized each region by its
seismicity, recent vertical movement tendencies and poten-
tially active faults.

Under the seismotectonic model we understand

a structured set of available geological, geophysical and seis-

mological data relevant for definition of seismic source
zones covering the territory of Slovakia and adjacent
regions.

In this article, we start with a general seismotectonic

framework of the Slovak territory based on the geological
evolution of the Western Carpathians and the lithosphere pa-

rameters. We explain a procedure for compiling, homoge-
nizing, declustering and a time-completeness analysis of the
new Slovak national earthquake catalogue (2011). We con-
tinue with principles of compilation of the seismotectonic
model and division of the territory into tectonic regions, seis-
mogeological domains and seismic structures. We made use

of earthquake data, crustal thickness, heat flow and other
available geophysical data. We conclude with a new model
of the seismic source zones covering the territory of Slovakia
and adjacent areas.

Seismotectonic framework

Most of the territory of Slovakia belongs to the Western

Carpathians. The present day structure of the Western Car-
pathians contains a number of different allochthonous tec-

tonic units (Biely et al. 1995), displaced during the Alpine
orogeny (Fig. 1).

Two decisive phases of the tectonic evolution connected with

subduction and collision can be recognized. The Palaeoalpine
phase is characterized by subduction, collision and stacking
of the groups of nappes in the internal parts of the Western
Carpathian arc (Internal Western Carpathians — IWC)

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accompanied by spreading of oceanic realms in the external

parts (External Western Carpathians — EWC) during the
Cretaceous. The IWC include three groups of nappes (Hók et
al. 2014). The Upper group of nappes, represented by the
Gemericum, Meliaticum, Turnaicum and Silicicum tectonic
units, was tectonically separated during the Early Cretaceous
(ca. 150 Ma). The Middle group of nappes comprises tec-
tonic units of the Veporicum, Fatricum and Hronicum. This
group of nappes was structuralized during the lowermost
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian i.e. ca. 100 Ma).
The Lower group of nappes contains the Vahicum/

Penninicum (Plašienka 1995; Schmid et al. 2004, 2008) and
Tatricum tectonic units formed during the Latest Creta-
ceous–Early Palaeogene (ca. 60 Ma).

The Neoalpine phase is characterized by oblique diachro-

nous subduction of the EWC basement along the periphery

of the IWC (Kováč 2000). In the collision zone, the Flysch
Belt rootless nappes were thrusted onto the European plat-

form margin. The extension connected with the Neogene
back-arc type volcanism and the Neogene basins opening

and infilling operated during this phase in the IWC.
The Neogene intramontane basins and the horst structures of

the core mountains are the most expressive morphotectonic
phenomena of the IWC. Oblique collision of the IWC with
the European platform supported by the roll back effect
caused a large counter clockwise rotation of the IWC during

the Neogene (e.g., Márton & Fodor 2003). Simultaneously

the lateral extrusion of the Carpathians from the Eastern

Alpine area (Ratschbacher et al. 1991) and the escape of the
Transdanubic and Bükkic terranes from the Southern Alpine

and Dinaride realms and their accretion to the IWC occurred.
It is assumed that the enigmatic tectonic units covered by the
Neogene sediments in south-eastern Slovakia were also
shifted together with the Transdanubic and Bükkic terranes

(Haas et al. 2001; Márton & Fodor 2003). Recently the EWC
have been under compression (Fig. 2) oriented generally per-

pendicular to the Carpathian arc course (Marsch et al. 1990;

Jarosiński 1997, 1998, 2005; Reinecker & Lenhardt 1999;

Jarosiński et al. 2009; Olaiz et al. 2009; Ptáček et al. 2012),

while the IWC are characterized by orogenparallel exten-

sion (Pešková & Hók 2008; Vojtko et al. 2008; Olaiz et al.

2009; Hók et al. 2010; Králiková et al. 2010; Vojtko et al.
2011) although some parameters of the focal mechanisms
showed contradictory orientation in the western part of Slo-

vakia (Cipciar 2001; Fojtíková 2009; Fojtíková et al. 2010;

Jechumtálová & Bulant 2014).

The thickness of the lithosphere reaches 120~160 km in

the Western Carpathians, 160~240 km and 160~220 km in
the Eastern Alps. The lithosphere thickening is generally ac-
companied by increasing of the crust thicknesses. The litho-

sphere thickness in the European platform area is

100~140 km (Zeyen et al. 2002; Dérerová et al. 2006; Grinč
et al. 2013; Bielik et al. 2014).

The Earth crust thickness and the Moho-discontinuity

morphology were studied especially by deep seismic sounding

(Mayerová et al. 1985; Šefara et al. 1996). The more precise
results were acquired within the CELEBRATION 2000,
ALP 2002 and SUDETES 2003 projects (e.g., Brückl et al.

2003; Grad et al. 2008; Janik et al. 2009; Hrubcová et al.
2010; Janik et al. 2011). The European platform, mainly the

Fig. 1.

Simplified tectonic evolution of the Western Carpathians during the last 150 Ma.

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Fig. 2.

Simplified

geological

map

Slovakia

with

orientation

principal

compression

and

extension

during

?Late

Pleistocene–Holocene

obtained

from

structural

measurements

and

their

terpretations.

Black

arrows

indicate

data

from

interpretation

the

focal

mechanisms

(2)

and

extensometer

(7).

Arrows

External

estern

Carpathians

(16)

indicate

max

mean direction

the

autochthonous basement (black arrows) and the Carpathian nappes (grey arrows). Reference:

— Briestenský et al. 201

—

Fojtíková

al.

2010;

Jechumtálová

Bulant

2014;

—

ojtko et al. 2008;

— Hók et al. 2007;

—

Čepek

1938;

—

Králiková

al.

2010;

— Mentes 2008;

—

Pulišová

2013;

—

ojtko et al. 201

—

ojtko et al. 2010a;

— Pešková & Hók 2008;

— Litva et al. 2015;

—

ojtko et al. 2010b;

— Hók et al. 201

—

ojtko et al. 2012

— Jarosiński 1998, 2005.

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Bohemian Massif is characterized by crust thicknesses of
around 34 km. The crust thickness in the Eastern Alps ranges
in the interval of 38~44 km, and around 40 km over most of

the territory. It is the eastern continuation of the significant
Alpine Moho-depression, which reaches even 50 km depths
in its central part. The morphology of the Moho varies from
44 km depth in the north of the Western Carpathians area to
26~28 km at the southern contact with the Pannonian basin
system. The most distinctive inhomogeneity is a local de-

pression of the Moho course, and significant crust thickening
in the northeastern portion of the Slovakia territory. The de-
pression is oriented in a NE–SW direction and runs oblique
to the contact of the EWC and IWC (Fig. 3). Its location does

not correlate with the most exposed surface topography.
The minimum crust thickness of around 30~26 km is found
in the Pannonian backarc area. The minimal crust thickness-
es follow the deepest Neogene depocentres of the Pannonian
Basin system.

Geothermal conditions point to significant differences be-

tween the geothermal activity in the Alpine–Carpathian sys-
tem, Pannonian Basin and European platform (Fig. 4). The
temperatures 250 °C and 550 °C were used as decisive in
terms of the brittle ductile transitions for limestone (250 °C),
granite or feldspar and quartz-rich rocks (550 °C). The tem-
peratures of 350 °C for the quartz-rich (granitic) upper crustal
rocks and 450 °C for the quartz-poor (dioritic) rocks were

given by Burkhard & Grünthal (2009).

The mechanical strength of the lithosphere is extremely

low in the marginal parts of the Dinarides, Eastern Alps,
Western Carpathians and adjacent Pannonian Basin area,
therefore it is susceptible to deformations, structural reacti-

vation and stress concentration (Bus et al. 2009). The pre-
vailing deformation style from compression through
transpression up to transtension (Bada et al. 2001; Olaiz et

al. 2009) gradually changes generally from south to north —
from the compression zone in the Dinarides towards the Pan-
nonian Basin. The earthquake hypocentres in the wider terri t ory
of Slovakia are located in the upper 20 km of the Earth

crust. The hypocentral depths between 6~15 km are stated
for the marginal parts of the Eastern Alps–Western Car-
pathians and Pannonian Basin (Tóth et al. 2014). These data
correspond to the rheological model of the Pannonian Basin
(Lenkey et al. 2002), where only the upper part of the crust
(10–14 km thick) can be considered brittle. The lower level
of seismicity of the northern and eastern part of the Pannonian

Basin confirms that most of the energy coming from the
movement of the Adria plate is absorbed by the Dinarides
and southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin.

A homogenous earthquake catalogue

A new Slovak earthquake catalogue (SLOVEC 2011) has

been developed for the purpose of creating a seismotectonic

Fig. 3.

Map of the Earth’s crust/mantle boundary (lower lithosphere) in the wider area of Slovakia (modified after Horváth 1993;

Lenkey 1999; Grad et al. 2009; Csicsay 2010; Hrubcová & Środa 2015).

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model of the Slovak territory. The catalogue geographically
covers the whole territory of Slovakia and the adjacent area.
For the compilation of the catalogue, the following earth-
quake catalogues and databases were used:

(1) previous version of the Slovak national earthquake

catalogue (Labák 1998)

(2) CENEC catalogue (Grünthal et al. 2009)
(3) the earthquake catalogue of the local networks of seis-

mic stations situated around NPP Jaslovské Bohunice and
NPP Mochovce (Progseis 2010)

(4) the earthquake databases of the Geophysical Institute,

Slovak Academy of Sciences.

The earthquake catalogue by Labák (1998) comprises data

on historical earthquakes, instrumentally recorded earth-
quakes and macroseismic observations of earthquakes on the
territory of Slovakia and neighbouring parts of Hungary,

Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland for the period 1259

to 1997.

The CENEC catalogue (Grünthal et al. 2009) is the unified

catalogue of earthquakes in the central, northern and north-
western parts of Europe for the period 1000 to 2004 and
magnitudes M

≥3.50. The catalogue was compiled from

more than 30 national and regional earthquake catalogues,
ISC (International Seismological Centre) and NEIC (National
Information Earthquake Center) bulletins, and many special
studies.

The earthquake catalogue by Progseis (2010) is based on

monitoring of microseismic activity in the vicinity of the
NPP Jaslovské Bohunice and Mochovce by the local net-

work of seismic stations from 1987 to 2009.

Two earthquake databases of the Geophysical Institute,

Slovak Academy of Sciences, provide earthquake solutions
from the Slovak National Network of Seismic Stations and
macroseismic data for the territory of Slovakia based on
evaluation of the macroseismic questionnaires. Both data-

bases cover the period from 1998 to 2009.

The standard procedure was applied for compiling the

SLOVEC (2011) catalogue. In the first step, all earthquake
catalogues and databases were merged. Subsequently, prima-
ry entries were selected and duplicate entries were removed.
For earthquakes with epicentres located inside the local seis-
mic networks of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Jaslovské Bo-
hunice and NPP Mochovce we considered data on time,
location and earthquake size in terms of local magnitude or
epicentral intensity from the Progseis catalogue as primary
and data from the other sources as subsidiary.

The SLOVEC (2011) catalogue includes data on 1648

events in the period from 1259 to 2009 (882 earthquakes

were instrumentally recorded, 609 earthquakes were mac
roseismically observed, for 104 earthquakes both macroseis-
mic and instrumental data are available, and for 53
earthquakes there is no information on magnitude or epicen-
tral intensity). For each earthquake, the uncertainty in the epi-

central location was expertly estimated depending on the
time of observation (e.g., uncertainty up to 50 km for histori-
cal earthquakes from the late medieval period).

The entire set of earthquakes in the catalogue had to be

characterized by the moment magnitude M

. For the territo-

ry of Slovakia, there are no earthquakes with both the mo-

ment magnitude M

and local magnitude M

determined.

Similarly, there are no earthquakes with both the moment
magnitude M

and epicentral intensity I

determined. In-

stead of an attempt to find conversion relation between the
moment magnitude and local magnitude or between the mo-

ment magnitude and epicentral intensity, we identified 48
earthquakes in the SLOVEC (2011) catalogue for which both
the local magnitude M

and epicentral intensity I

were

available. Using the least-square method we derived the fol-
lowing conversion relation between the epicentral intensity
I

, local magnitude M

and hypocentral depth h:

=1.545(± 0.125)M

– 0.338(± 0.304)log h+ 0.206(± 0.472)

The relation is valid for M

in the range 2.0~4.7.

We converted the epicentral intensity I

to the magnitude

using the Kárník et al. (1957) formulas:

= 0.55I

+ 0.95 and M

=0.55 I

+ 0.93 log h+ 0.14

where M

is the so called macroseismic intensity magni-

tude.

Following Kárník (1968), it was assumed that the surface

wave magnitude M

is equivalent to the intensity magnitude

. According to Grünthal & Wahlström (2003) M

equivalent to the moment magnitude M

. Consequently,

the homogenization procedure applied to the SLOVEC
(2011) catalogue can be characterized by the following
scheme:

I

M

≈

The map of epicentres from the unified and homogenized

SLOVEC (2011) catalogue is shown in Figure 5. The Time-
Magnitude distribution for the catalogue is shown in
Figure 6. A remarkable increase in the number of documented
earthquakes for magnitudes smaller than M

=1.5 after the

year 2004 is due to the modernization of the Slovak national

network of seismic stations which was finished that year. For
declustering (i.e., identifying of foreshocks, mainshocks and
aftershocks in the catalogue) we used the window method.
The parameters of the time and distance windows were taken

from the PEGASOS project (Burkhard & Grünthal 2009).
Earthquakes in the catalogue were regrouped according to
their moment magnitudes. In the case that some earthquake
occurred within the time and distance windows of an earth-
quake with larger moment magnitude, the earthquake was
marked as a foreshock or aftershock depending on the time

of the two events. Using this approach, 993 earthquakes were

classified as mainshocks, 149 earthquakes as foreshocks and
506 earthquakes as aftershocks.

The time-completeness analysis of the SLOVEC (2011)

catalogue was investigated based on the plots displaying the
cumulative number of events versus time, for a given magni-
tude interval (Fig. 7). The most recent linear segment, indi-
cating a stable seismic rate with time, provides the lower
bound of the completeness time interval. The results of the
time-completeness analysis of the SLOVEC (2011) cata-
logue are shown in Table 1.

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Principles of compilation of the seismotectonic

model

The construction of the seismotectonic model was based

on hierarchical regionalization of geological structures with
earthquake occurrence into the tectonic regions, seismogeo-
logical domains, seismogenic structure and seismic source
zones in the territory of Slovakia and adjacent areas.

The evaluated area has been divided into the stable conti-

nental region and the active shallow crustal region (sensu
Delavaud et al. 2012). The stable continental region (SCR)
represents the Caledonian and Hercynian consolidated Euro-
pean platform. The active shallow crustal region (ASCR)
region includes the Alpine-Carpathian orogenic system and
the pre-Cenozoic basement of the Pannonian Basin system.
The SCR and ASCR are separated by a tectonic boundary of

the first order, namely the contact of the European platform
with the Alpine–Carpathian orogeny.

A seismogeologic domain (“the large scale zones”) is

a spatially defined segment of the Earth’s crust with quasi
homogeneous geodynamic characteristics. The uniform age

of the last extensive consolidation of the geological and tec-
tonic structure is the main criterion for its allocation. Besides

this, there are domains defined by the thickness of litho
sphere, thickness of crust and thermal conditions at different
depths, neotectonic deformation and seismicity (data from
catalogue). Selected seismogeological domains are integral
elements of the ASCR (Fig. 8).

(1) The Flysch Belt Domain represents the accretionary

prism of the Neoalpine nappes of the Alpine–Carpathian
orogeny (ASCR) thrusted over the European platform
(SCR). The domain forms the northern margin of Slovakia
(Figs. 1, 8).

Its basic geophysical characteristics are similar to those of

the SCR. The lithosphere thickness is 100~140 km; the crust
thickness 30~40 km; thermal conditions at the depth levels
of 50 km 600~700 °C, 20 km 350~400 °C, 10 km
200~250 °C and at the depth of 5 km 100~140 °C. Normal
faults oriented in the longitudinal and transverse direction
with respect to the orogene arc predominate. The last thrusting
of the nappes took place in the Middle Miocene, namely

17–11 Ma (Jiříček 1979). This domain has the lowest
seismic activity in the territory of Slovakia.

(2) The Eastern Alps and Western Carpathian Domain

is formed by the tectonic units of the Northern Calcareous

Alps, Central Alps and IWC. The rock complexes of the
crystalline and sedimentary rocks participate in the Palaeoal-
pine nappe structures. The Neogene sediments and volcano-
sedimentary formations, together with the Palaeogene and
partially with the Late Cretaceous sediments represent the
post-nappe cover in the IWC. The essential geophysical
characteristics of this domain are the lithosphere thickness
200~140 km; the crust thickness 30~44 km; thermal condi-
tions at the depth levels of 50 km 600~1000 °C, 20 km
350~400 °C, 10 km 220~250 °C and at the depth of 5 km
120~160 °C. The normal and strike-slip faults are the

Fig. 6. The cumulative number of events versus time for different magnitude intervals, based on the declustered SLOVEC (2011) cata-
logue. The increment between the magnitude classes is M

=0.5.

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deep basement occurred during the Upper Miocene, before

ca. 9 Ma.

The domain area extends into Slovak territory at its

southern periphery. It is defined by the course of the Rába

and the Hurbanovo–Diósjenő lineament (HDL). The most
marked seismic activity is connected with the zone along the
northern margin of the Transdanubicum and Bükk (Haas et

al. 2001; Haas & Budai 2014), south of the (HDL). The do-
main is important especially in terms of increased seismic

activity in the Komárno area.

Seismogenic structures represent faults, fault systems or

fault zones associated with the occurrence of earthquakes.
The following seismogenic structures are principal for the
seismotectonic model in the wider surroundings of Slovakia.

(1) Mur–Mürz & Vienna Basin Transfer Fault. The

Mur–Mürz fault system disturb the Northern Calcareous
Alps in SW–NE direction up to the Vienna Basin area, where
it continues by the Vienna Basin Transfer Fault (VBTF) or

Vienna Basin fault (VBF) according to Hinsch & Decker

(2003) or Beindinger & Decker (2011). The termination of

the VBTF is identified gravimetrically as well as in deep

seismic profiles at the northwestern margin of the Malé Kar-

paty Mts., horst (Bielik et al. 2002; Kováč et al. 2002).

(2)

Hurbanovo–Diósjenő Lineament (HDL). The HDL

is considered to be a projection of the flatlying boundary of
the North Pannonian Domain and Eastern Alpine–Western
Carpathian Domain or Transdanubicum/Pelso and IWC

(Nemesi et al. 1997; Kovács et al., 2000; Kováč et al. 2002).

The tectonic boundary is also referred to as the Rába–

Hurbanovo–Diósjenő lineament (Balla 1994; Kovács et al.
2000). The HDL is a structure, which limits occurrences of
earthquakes towards the north.

A seismic source zone

is a defined distinct part of the

seismogeological domain with characteristic arrangement of
geological structures, tectonic regime and with typical fea-
tures in its seismic activity. The seismic source zones covering

the territory of Slovakia were defined according to the pro-

posed seismotectonic model, while the existing zones re-
sulting from the SESAME project (Jiménez et al. 2003) were

accepted with certain modifications for the delimitation of
the zones near the border area. The seismic source zones are

in principle defined into four groups (see Fig. 9). Zones of
the Eastern Alps and Western Carpathian Domain — the
Western Carpathian sector — are the zones in the territory of

Fig. 7.

Time–Magnitude distribution for the unified and homoge-

nized SLOVEC (2011) catalogue.

prevalent phenomena in the tectonic deformation. Termina-
tion of the last decisive tectonic events took place in the Early

and Middle Miocene, namely 21–9 Ma. This is the most im
portant domain in terms of determining the seismic hazard
for Slovakia.

(3) The Northern Pannonian Domain is constituted by

the Transdanubicum and Bükkicum, namely the Palaeoal-

pine consolidated lithosphere with affinity to the Southern

Alps and Dinarides. The rock complexes of the crystalline
and sedimentary, principally Mesozoic carbonate sequences
participate in the domain’s nappe structure. The lithosphere
thickness in the North Pannonian Domain is 100~80 km; the
crust thickness is 24~30 km; thermal conditions at the depth
levels of 50 km 1000~1100 °C, 20 km 400~500 °C, 10 km ca
300 °C and at the depth of 5 km 160~200 °C. The domain is
disturbed mainly by normal faults and strike slip faults. Ter-

mination of the last significant tectonic movements took
place before 15~13 Ma.

Termination of the last extensive tectonic movements in

the form of large listric fault activity in the Danube Basin’s

Table 1: The completeness time windows for the declustered
SLOVEC (2011) catalogue.

magnitude interval

time period

of completeness

number of events

2.25 – 2.75

1999

2.75 – 3.25

1996

3.25 – 3.75

1992

3.75 – 4.25

1958

4.25 – 4.75

1901

4.75 – 5.25

1806

5.25 – 5.75

1613

5.75 – 6.25

1443

≥ 2.25

198

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Slovakia partially covering eastern Austria and

northern Hungary marked as SK1 to SK7. This part of the
territory is entirely covered by the catalogue. Zones of the
Eastern Alps and Western Carpathian Domain — the Eastern
Alps sector marked as A1, A5 and A7, which cover the terri-
tory of eastern and south-eastern Austria. Zones correspon-
ding to the North Pannonian Domain, marked as H1 to H8
covering the territory of Hungary. Zones corresponding to
the Domain of the European platform (P1 to P3) mostly cover
the adjacent territory of the Czech Republic and Poland.

Seismic activity in the defined zones was the subject of

mutual comparison on the basis of the parameters derived

from the SLOVEC (2011) catalogue and spatial identifica-

tion of a specific zone. The amount of seismic wave energy
per unit area has proved to be the most appropriate compari-
son parameter. The energy was determined on the basis of
the moment magnitudes of earthquakes according to the rela-
tionship sensu

Kanamori (1977). The areal distribution of the

emitted energy in the wider territory of Slovakia is docu-
mented by a map, constructed by means of the energy sum-
mation in clusters of 5×5 km and transfer to GJkm

-2

(Fig. 10). The amount of seismic wave energy was further
normalized to the time through the observation period in an
individual zone (subzone) in MJkm

-2

per year, within the

zone’s evaluation. As there are considerably different obser-
vation periods in the individual parts of the studied territory,
intervals resulting from a time-completeness analysis of the

SLOVEC (2011) catalogue for individual magnitude classes
were used as the time denominator.

Despite the given limitation, the amount of seismic wave

energy can be an appropriate parameter in the first approxi-
mation, when assessing differences in the seismic activity of

defined zones. The density of documented events per unit

area was used as a further auxiliary criterion. Descriptive
statistics based on the catalogue data, namely moment
magnitudes, the earthquakes’ hypocentral depths and their
distribution in classes, were further used to describe the
zones.

Seismic source zones in the territory of Slovakia

SK1 zone (Dobrá Voda): SK1 zone together with the H2

(Komárno) zone is the most significant zone in terms of seis-
mic hazard of Slovakia, with the highest level of seismic ac-
tivity. Totally 271 earthquakes with M

from 2.0 up to 5.7

are documented. The hypocentral depths vary in the range
4~18 km with the median value 11 km. The strongest docu-

mented event is the 1906 Dobrá Voda earthquake with
M

=5.7. The documented seismic activity is associated with

the prevailing strike slip regime of faults (Fojtíková 2009;

Fojtíková et al. 2010; Jechumtálová & Bulant 2014).

The thickness of the Earth’s crust is 30 km and a gravity

field with relatively distinct gradients coincides with mar-

Fig. 8.

The Stable Continental Region (SCR), the Active Shallow Crustal Region (ASCR) and Seismogeological Domains (simplified geo-

logical background compiled after Hók et al. 2014; Haas & Budai 2014).

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, 2016, 67, 3, 273–288

the Klippen Belt are present. The sediments of Late Creta-
ceous, Palaeogene and towards the Danube Basin also the
Neogene sediments participate in its structure. The assumed
contact of the IWC with the Bohemian Massif (SCR) is

a specific feature in the deep structure of the zone.

SK2 zone (Northern Slovakia): The SK2 zone is formed

by the Neoalpine consolidated block, extending to both the
IWC and EWC. The Palaeoalpine as well as Neoalpine tec-
tonic units participate in its geological structure. The Neo-
gene sediments occur less frequently in the zone’s territory.
The zone is characterized by the most distinct morphological
differentiation. The thermochronological data (ZFT and AFT

data) and derived ages of the crystalline exhumation yielded

a range from 9 to 13 Ma (e.g. Králiková et al. 2014a,b).

Seismicity in the Neoalpine consolidated parts of the EWC

is low. A total of 196 events with the moment magnitude of
M

≥2.0 are documented within the zone. The biggest group

of documented events reaches small depths of hypocentres
up to 5 km, the second largest group of earthquakes reaches
the depth 10~15 km, with the median depth of 12 km. Two
historical earthquakes in 1613 and 1858 with the magnitudes
5.6 and 5.2, respectively, are the most important events lo-

cated in the vicinity of Žilina town as well as the 1443 Cen-
tral Slovakia earthquake with the magnitude 5.7 located in
Kremnica town. A moderate increase of the seismic activity

is documented in the southern part (the Banská Bystrica area).

The Carpathian gravity low and gravity depressions of the

IWC and EWC dominate in the gravity field image, while

the field is balanced, without anomalous elements. The terri-
tory is characterized by the considerable thickness of the
Earth’s crust, which increases from 30 km in the southern
part to over 40 km in the northeast of the zone. The tempera-
tures reach at the depth 10 km 200~250 °C, at the depth

20 km up to 400 °C. The Banská Štiavnica volcanic field in
the southern part of the zone is manifested as a positive geo-
thermal anomaly.

SK3 zone (Malé Karpaty): The SK3 zone covers the

southwestern part of the Malé Karpaty Mts., and marginal
parts of the Vienna and Danube Basin. 61 events with the
moment magnitude M

≥2.0 and the strongest earthquake

with the value of M

=5.1 are documented. The distribution

of the hypocentral depths is similar to the SK1 zone with the
median 12 km.

The thickness of the Earth’s crust and geothermal condi-

tions are similarly to those in the SK1 zone, including a con-

siderable horizontal temperature gradient. The gravity field
is differentiated, however with less distinct gradients, which

define the body of the core mountains. The units of the Tatri-

cum, Fatricum, Hronicum and the Neogene basin infill par-
ticipate in its structure from the tectonic point of view.

A specific feature of the zone is the presence of the VBTF,
which is terminated on the western margin of the Malé Kar-
paty Mts.

SK4 zone (Danube Basin): The seismic activity is very

low and so it is comparable to the zones of the stable European
platform. A total of 16 earthquakes with the moment magni-
tude M

≥2.0 and highest value M

=4.3 are documented in

this zone. The largest group of earthquakes reaches small
depths of hypocentres up to 5 km, another group of earth-

quakes reaches the hypocentral depth 10~15 km, but the value
of the median depth of events in the whole zone is only

2.5 km. The seismic activity in the SK4 zone can be expected
especially at its southern border. The SK4 zone is characteri-
zed by thickness of the Earth’s crust, which decreases below

28 km in the centre. The gravity field image is aligned with

the prevailing lows, except the significantly limited positive

anomaly of the Tribeč core mountains.

Geothermal temperatures reach at the depth 10 km

250~320 °C, at the depth 20 km 500~550 °C without signifi-
cant horizontal gradients. The Palaeoalpine tectonic units are
present in the deep geological structure. The considerable
thicknesses of the Neogene sediments above 7 km in

the central depression (Kilényi & Šefara 1989) are an impor
tant aspect.

The majority of investigated faults are sealed by the

Pliocene sediments. Faultless stress release due to the ther-

mal influence of asthenosphere upwelling is assumed in the

Danube Basin area. Similar processes are also expected in

the central parts of the Pannonian Basin (Bus et al. 2009).

SK5 zone (Southern Slovakia): The seismic activity is

slightly below the average of the evaluated regions. The cat-
alogue comprises a total of 37 earthquakes with the moment
magnitude M

≥2.0 and the highest value M

=4.5. The hy-

pocentres are cumulating around 5 km depths and from the
range of 10 to 15 km. The Palaeoalpine tectonic units partici-
pate in the geological structure. Most of the territory is

covered by volcanic products of the Banská Štiavnica strato-
volcano and Cenozoic sediments. The Earth’s crust thickness

is 28~30 km. The gravity field is differentiated, while the
positive anomalies corresponding to the Southern Slovakian
gravity elevation predominate. Geothermal temperatures
reach at the depth 10 km 350 °C, at the depth 20 km around
500~600 °C. The geothermal anomaly related to the presence

of the Banská Štiavnica stratovolcano is manifested by sig-

nificant horizontal gradients in the thermal field at the north-
west part of the zone.

SK6 zone (Eastern Slovakia): The seismicity in the zone

of the Palaeoalpine consolidated part of the IWC is lower
than the average of the SK zones territory. The catalogue of
earthquakes comprises 40 events with the moment magni-
tudes above 2.0 and the highest value of M

=5.4. The hypo-

centres of the largest group of earthquakes are situated at the
depth up to 5 km. A smaller group reached the depth up to
20 km with the median value 6 km.

The Neogene sediment accumulations are insignificant.

The Earth’s crust thickness is 28~32 km and the linear eleva-
tion with the value 31 km in the SW–NE direction is indi-

cated. The gravity field image reaches predominantly
negative anomalies, belonging to the SE margin of the IWC
gravity depression. The positive anomalies, belonging to the
South Slovakia gravity elevation are more frequent in the di-
rection of the Pannonian Basin. Temperatures reach at
the depth 10 km from 250 °C in the northwest up to 350 °C
in the southeast and at the depth 20 km 400~600 °C.

SK7 zone (Eastern Slovakia/Trebišov Basin): The zone

covers predominantly the Trebišov Basin with its continuation
into the Transcarpathian depression. The seismic activity is
medium and slightly below average. A total of 104 earth-

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quakes with M

≥

2.0 and maximum value of M

=5.3 are

documented in the catalogue. The earthquake hypocentres
are cumulated around the depths 5 km, the depths of the
smaller number of events are localized from 10 to 20 km.

A significant subzone with increased seismic activity occurs
in the NE of the zone with a continuation to the southeast
outside Slovak territory.

The deep structure comprises tectonic units of uncertain

tectonic affiliation (Iňačovce and Kričevo units, Zemplini-
cum). Palaeoalpine tectonic units are present along the

northern margin. The basin infill comprises Neogene volca-
nite bodies as well as Neogene sediments. The positive gravity
anomalies are located on the northern and southern bounda -
ries. Both anomalies continue in the southwestern direction
into the Transcarpathian depression. The zone is characte-
rized by increased geothermal activity. The temperatures at
the depth 10 km are from 250 °C in the northwest up to
350 °C in the basin’s centre and at the depth 20 km in the
500~650 °C interval.

Seismic source zones on the borders of Slovak

territory (A, H and P zones).

The southern part of the territory of Slovakia is situated on

the contact with the Pannonian Basin system, and with the

Eastern Alps, where the A and H zones extend partly into
Slovak territory.

A1, A5, A7 zones (Eastern Alps): The A1

zone covers the eastern salient of the Northern Calcareous
Alps, molasse foredeep and a part of the Vienna Basin. Seis-
mic activity within the zone is weak. The earthquake (Neu-

lengbach 1590; ACORN (2004) catalogue, also referred as

the Ried am Riederberg 1590 earthquake) with the M

6.0

represents a specific exception. The A5 zone is important in

terms of seismogenic potential, even if it does not extend
into the evaluated Slovak territory. The SLOVEC (2011) cata-
logue covers a part of the zone in the vicinity of the Vienna
Basin and contains 36 earthquakes with the magnitudes from
2.0 to 4.8 with characteristic hypocentral depths around 8 to
12 km. The strongest earthquake was registered at Ebreichs-
dorf (2000) with the magnitude 4.8 and hypocentral depth
around 10 km (Meurers et al. 2004). The Carnuntum earth-

quake (350 A.D., Kandler 1989; Decker et al. 2006) with es-

timated local intensity of 9° EMS98 is critically discussed
by Hammerl et al. (2014). The Carnuntum earthquake was
not included in the SLOVEC (2011) catalogue. The south
Bohemian basement spur as a major tectonic structure with
a high rheological contrast to surrounding units has a strong

influence on the stress field and exhibits the highest seismicity

at its tip due to stress concentration in this area (Reinecker &

Lenhardt 1999). The A7 East Styrian zone is characterized
by low seismic activity.

The seismic source zones of the North Pannonian Do-

main (H6, H2) are localized on the southern margin of Slo-
vakia. The H6 zone is situated on the boundary between the
Eastern Alps and North Pannonian domains. The seismic ac-

tivity concentrated in the zone coincides with the Rába line
at its connection with the Hurbanovo part of the HDL. A to-
tal of 32 events with moment magnitudes above 2.0 and with

the highest value of M

=4.7 are documented. Hypocentral

depths are distributed evenly up to 22 km. The H2 zone on
the southern margin of southwest Slovakia is particularly im-

portant for the seismic hazard of Slovakia. The most signifi-
cant seismic activity is bounded to the zone along the
northern margin of the Transdanubicum, south from the
HDL seismogenic structure. The zone comprises the Ko-

márno area including the most important Komárno 1763
earthquake with the moment magnitude M

=5.6 (depth of

hypocentre 7 km). Seismic activity is comparable to the SK1

Dobrá Voda source zone. Within the zone 248 events are
documented with moment magnitudes above 2.0. The hypo-
central depths vary predominantly in the intervals around
5 to 10 km and 20 to 25 km. Observed macroseismic effects

of significant historical earthquakes are with high probability
affected by site effects because a large part of the zone’s area
is characterized by the presence of unconsolidated Quaternary
(even Holocene) sediments.

P1, P2, P3 zones (Platform and Flysch Belt): The seis-

mic activity in the P1 and P3 zones can be characterized as

diffuse (Burkhard & Grünthal 2009) and only the P2 (Su

detes–Labe) zone is manifested as seismogenic (e.g., Špaček
et al. 2006). The contribution of the European platform
source zone to the seismic hazard of Slovakia is negligible.

Conclusions

The presented seismotectonic model of the Slovak territory

and adjacent area includes the eastern parts of the Czech Re-
public, the northeastern parts of Austria, the northern parts of
Hungary and the southern parts of Poland. The seismotectonic
model is based on analysis of the geological, geophysical
and seismological data and hierarchical regionalization of
the investigated territory into the stable continental region
and active shallow crustal region (Delavaud et al. 2012),
seismogeological domains, seismogenic structures and seis-
mic source zones.

The stable continental region (SCR) includes the European

platform tectonically consolidated during the Hercynian
orogeny. The active shallow crustal region (ASCR) includes
the Alpine consolidated lithosphere of the pre-Cainozoic
units of the Internal Western Carpathians and Eastern Alps,
the basement of the Pannonian Basin System and the Neoal-
pine (during the Neogene) consolidated accretionary prism

of the External Western Carpathians and Rhenodanubian
Flysch Zone.

The uniform age of the last extensive consolidation of the

geological and tectonic structures with the quasi-homoge-
neous geological and geodynamic characteristics was the
main criterion for subdividing the seismogeological domains
into the Flysch Belt Domain, Eastern Alps–Western Car-
pathians Domain and Northern Pannonian Domain.

The seismological domains were identified as spatially

limited segments with defined thickness of lithosphere,
thickness of crust, thermal conditions in various depths, neo-
tectonic deformation and seismicity. The seismogenic struc-

tures are specific elements of seismogeological domains

with spatially limited significant seismic activity. The identified

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GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA

, 2016, 67, 3, 273–288

seismogenic structures are the Mur–Mürz–Vienna Basin

transfer fault and the Hurbanovo–Diósjenő Line.

The seismic source zones were defined as distinct parts of

the seismogeological domain with characteristic arrange-
ment of geological structures, tectonic regime and with typi-

cal features of the seismic activity. In defining the zones we
took into account data from the SLOVEC (2011) catalogue
for events with the moment magnitude M

≥2.0.

Four groups of seismic source zones were identified:
(1) Zones corresponding to the SCR and Flysch Belt Do-

main which cover approximately the adjacent territory of the

Czech Republic and Poland — P1, P2, P3 zones situated ex-
ternally from the deep-seated contact of the Carpathian oro-
geny with the stable European platform.

(2) Zones of the Eastern Alps–Western Carpathians Do-

main — Western Carpathians sector — SK1 (Dobrá Voda),
SK2 (Northern Slovakia), SK3 (Malé Karpaty), SK4

(Danube Basin), SK5 (Southern Slovakia), SK6 (Eastern
Slovakia), SK7 (Trebišov Basin) situated in Slovakia and
partially covering the eastern part of Austria and northern
part of Hungary.

(3) Zones of the Eastern Alps–Western Carpathians Do-

main — the Eastern Alps sector, cover eastern and south-
eastern Austria — A1, A5, A7.

(4) Zones corresponding to the North Pannonian Domain

— H6 and H2 approximately covering the territory of northern
Hungary.

The seismic source zone model formed the input for calcu-

lation of seismic hazard of the Slovak territory in terms of
peak ground acceleration (PGA) for the return period of

475 years, that is, 10 % probability of being exceeded within
50 years, (Kysel 2014; Kysel et al. under preparation).

Acknowledgement:

The work was financially supported by

the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the

contracts Nos. APPV009911, APVV SKGR003211 and
Slovak Foundation Grant VEGA-2/0188/15. Constructive re-

views by Jozef Vozár, Miroslav Bielik and an anonymous re-
viewer are greatly appreciated.

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