Table 1 Tectonic settings, seismic activities and characteristics of typical seismites

Setting

Divergence
Intraoceanic

Position

Seismicity

Continental margin

Oceanic Spreading
Passive margins
Centers
Relatively weak
seismicity; shallow
Subdued seismic
earthquake foci along the
activity, shallow
axial ridge and transform
earthquake foci;
faults, deeper
growth faults source of
earthquakes foci
numerous low intensity
associated with rising
shocks
magmas at the spreading
center

Focal
mechanism

Slow spreading centre

with normal and strike
slip earthquake; fast
spreading center with
strike-slip earthquakes

Position of
earthquakes

Normal fault earthquake

on the ridgestrike-slip
earthquake on the
transform segment

Normal fault
earthquake

Generally thin pelagic

sediments

Example

Ionian sea,
Mediterranean

Soft sediment
deformation
structure of
seismites

Sedimentary
facies and
sediments of
seismites

Homogenites

Intense during active rifting; shallow

earthquakes generally; rising magmas
contribute to seismic activity

Numerous shallow
Subdued seismic activity
earthquakes in rapid
after basin filling begins;
extension setting; many
origin of minor earthquake
not associated with
is usually unknown
known faults

Seismicity decreases as collision

At transform margins, seismicity depends upon rate transverse Earthquake foci range in depth from 10700 km, with the most destructive having foci less 100 km in depth; seismic activity
proceeds, and eventually ceases;
slip and orientation of shear couple, may be destructive
is generated along the thrusts of subduction zones and in forearc and backarcs; some earthquakes associated with the breakup
earthquakes similar to those at other
earthquakes; earthquake foci generally shallower than 15 km
of subducted slabs and rising magmas within the arc
convergent margins

Normal fault earthquake,

volcanic earthquake

Strike slip fault

Normal fault earthquake, volcanic earthquake

Reactivation of preexisting major faults or weak zones

Rift basins

Yanliao aulacogen,
Sino-Korean plate,
northern China

Load casts,
ball-and-pillow, flame
structures

Liquefied sand and

micrite veins, breccias
and mounds; small
fault, loop bedding,
angular fold and
plate-spine breccia
structure

Backarc Basins

Pull-apart basins

Load cast,
liquefied sand
vein, grading
faultundulated
and convoluted
deformation

Fissure, shock-fold,
liquefied vein, volcanic
sand, load cast and
flame, ball and pillow,
slump, and liquefied
breccia
Glacial marine
sedimentary, glacier
debris flow; with
sandstone, mudstone,
breccia

Liquefied sand veins and

breccias, boudinages, load
casts and diapirs, dish and
mixed layer structure,
hydroplastic convolutions
and seismic unconformity

Load casts, ball and

pillows, liquidized
droplets and upward
liquefied cusps

A mixed shelf; shore and

tidal- flat facies; with
Lacustrine facies; with
sands, silts, pelitic silts and
sands, silts, muds
muds

Plasticization,
liquification,
fluidization and
gravity

Hydroplastication,
liquification, and
fluidization

Hydroplastication,
liquification, fluidization
and gravity

Time of SSDS

Holocene (3500 yr)

Late Pleistocene

Meso-Proterozoic

Cretaceous

Permian

Late Ordovician, Silurian

Early Jurassic

Tazhong 1 Fault (TZ1F)

and its reversed thrust
secondary-fault

Literature

A range of 40 km

590 km

Cita et al., 1984; Hieke, Moretti and Tropeano, Song, 1988; Qiao et al.,
1984
2002
2007; Su et al., 2012

Migratory

Detached

Stationary

Non-contracted

Contracted

Various focal mechanism is associated with varied convergence rate, mostly thrust earthquakes, some volcanic earthquake; in
Strike slip fault with
shallow subduction zone, the normal faulting in the upper part of subduction slab depth of 25 km and thrusting its lower part
thrust fault
about 4050 km. The deeper earthquake within the downgoing slab

Transpressional basins (oblique

flexural basins)

Wuqia pull-apart basin,

Zhucheng
Elwood beach,
Southern Sydney Basin, Manjiaer depression, Tarim
the strike-slip
depression, Jiaolai
Californian,
Australia
basin, NW China
Talas-Ferghana fault,
basin, NE China
American
NW China

Liquification,
hydroplastication and
gravity

~100 km

Strike slip fault

Transpressional

Continent-Continent Collisions
(arc-arc or arc-continent)

Mainly thrust, strike slip fault

earthquake, some large normal
earthquake, less volcanic
earthquake.

Thrust-loaded downwards on each

side of collision; tectonically
dammed basins ; rifts associated
with tectonic escape
Earliest sediments resemble those at
Forearc: Sediments of all type, originated in the volcanic
Marine clastic sediments
other convergent and passive
Marine clastic and carbonate sediments containing little
arc and accretionary prism; abrupt facies changes.
(all types) derived from
continental margins; flysch,
Dominantly clastic sediments, but may include sediments of all continent-derived material; backarc basin sediments may originate Foreland and backarc: sediments of continental and arc
craton; carbonates;
molasse common; as collision
types; often diverse, rapid facies change; local settings dictate
from island arcs; forearc basin sediments may come from
origin, marine and non-marine clastic sediments,
evaporites; coal and other
proceeds, sediments become
lithologies
accretionary prisms or arc volcanics; sediment sources generally
carbonates, evaporites, coal, volcanics. Trench: deep
non-marine sediments also
coarser, more continental; basins
not quartz-rich, hence few clean sands
water clastic and pelagic sediments, some from the
common
become distorted, inverted with
accretionary prisms; melanges at depth.
continued compression
Intracratonic sags or
interior basins

Liquification and /or

fluidization

NE trending
Active strike-slip fault, syndepositional normal
South Gargano fault faults at the central part
of Yanliao Aulacogen

Transform

Others
Meteorite impact
Bolide Impact?

Impact of a km-scale
asteroid

Impact earthquake, tsunami

Preexisting major
Thrusting usually at the margin of
>250,000 km2 of the
Preexisting major strike
Weak zones, new faults, Less preexisting major Major strike slip
strike slip faults and
plate, strike slip and normal fault outcrop and subcrop of the
slip faults and weak
Thrusting earthquakes at the interface between subducting and overriding plates and shallow overriding plates; large normal
and few major
faults and weak zones, or faults and weak
weak zones,
earthquake occur in the margin of latest Triassic (Rhaetian)
zones, syn-depositional
fault earthquakes at trench; bending earthquakes (normal and thrust faults); deep earthquake in the Wadati- Benioff zone
preexisting faults
uncertainty
zone,
syndepositional thrust
active block. Less large earthquake Cotham Member of the
strike slip faults
faults
in the plate
Penarth Group

Shallow to deep water

marine clastic
Generally fresh water
sediments, salt,
Dictated by local setting; includes evaporites,
sediments, subaerial
carbonates; fluvial and marine and non-marine clastic sediments,
valley fill, evaporites,
other non-marine
volcanics
volcanics
sediments deposited
onshore;
Murge, Apulian
foreland, South Italy

Uncertainty

Liquefication

Distance to
seismogenic
fault

Intracontinental

Transtensional

Trigger of
SSDS

Uncertain

Continental margin

Intracontinental backarc Intracontinental basins of

spreading
Undetermined Affiliation

Turbidities and debris

Fluvial, flood
Lagoon, eolian, paralic
flows of pelagic
Platform-shelf; with
plain, regional
deposition; with gravel,
depositional setting,
dolomite, argillaceous
lacustrine; with
coarse-grained sands,
abyssal plain; with
dolomite, limestone and
conglomerate,
fine sands and slity
re-sediment,
sandstone
sandstone, silt and
sands
homogeneous
mudstone

Seismogenic
fault

Convergent
Intraoceanic

Rifts

Small faulted basins,

Type of
Thick clastic wedges
seamount moats, rifts are
Sedimentary
overlie rift basin
along the axial ridge in
basin
fragments
the large ocean basins

Type of
depositing
setting and
sediments

Transform
Intraoceanic; continental margin; intracontinental

Intracontinental

Wulian fault was

Back arc spreading and
main fault, with
trench subduction of the
thrust in early,
New England island arc
normal in later

Fault-graded
beds

Marginal sea
basin; shale,
siltstone

Longmenshan,
Sichuan basin, China
Liquefied breccias,
boudinage,
hydroplastic
convolutions, load,
ball and pillow and
pillow beds

Forearc, backarc, trench basins; some minor basins on the

accretionary prism and within arc

Neuquen basin,
Argentina

Boudinages, variety of
folds, normal (listric)
Liquefied sand,
dm-scale faults,
injection structure
complex slump
structures

Liquification,
plasticization and
gravity

Hydroplastication,
ductile-brittle

Liquification

Miocene

Mesozoic and
Cenozoic

Late Jurassic to Early

Cretaceous

Late Pleistocene

Talas-Ferghanna strike
slip fault

San Andreas
Fault

Wenchuan- Maoxian
fault, Longmenshan

Neuquen fault

Related to Suruga
trough, Triggle
fault uncertain
~5080 km

Liquification, imposed Plasticization,

gravity driver
fluidization (top)

Upper Cook Inlet,

Alaska

Bari, Apulian foreland,

Malatya basin, eastern Turkey
Southern Italy

Convoluted beds,
gravel and clastic
dike, sand- boil;
liquefied clay-rich
sands

Load casts, ball and

pillow, flame structures

Central Appalachian basin, United

state

Uncertainty

nonmarine red-bed facies; a

restricted quasi-marine dark
pyritic shales; both marine
and non-marine dark
laminated mudstones and
fine sandstones, siltstones

Rhaetian, UK

Faulted -bordered paleo-debris

Slump fold, load and flame, sand
Recumbent folds and
flows, paleo-slump, ball and pillow,
dike, small synsedimentary
contorted beds, load cast,
vertical pipe; dike, convoluted
reverse fault
liquefied breccia and dike
deformation

Bay-head delta
Open marine; laminated bay floor, incised
Marginal basin and basin
Transitional facies
Lagoonal, upper tidal-flat, subtidal
fine-grained limestone,
valley, active
Tidal flat, estuary,
Lagoon and eolian; Lacustrinefluvial facies; with
setting containing both
-alluvial fan; with
environment; sandstones with shale
rich in organic matter,
continental
fluvial; with gravel, with fine sands, coarse
coal, siltstones, claystones,
marine and non-marine
limestone and marl,
and coaly shale; fossiliferous,
minor silt-size clastic
margin; with
sand, fine sand, clay
sands
marlstones; limestones
sandstones, mudstones and
sands, silts and muds
laminated dolomites
rocks and clays
sands, silts and
shales, limestones
clay

From several to 30
km

~ 50 km

Several kilometer to 270

km,

4050 km

near to San
Andreas Fault

>30150 km

70650 km

He et al., 2011,
2012 and 2014

Du et al., 2007

He et al, 2010, 2014; Qiao

et al., 2011;

Qiao et al., 2013

Seilacher 1969,
1984

Qiao et al., 2012

Martin-Chivelet, et al.,
2011

Note: The tectonic setting modified from Wessel, 2002; earthquake mechanisms modified from Stein and Klosko, 2002.

Makinohara
upland, incised
valley, central
Japan

Forearc, backarc, foreland, and trench basins; some

minor basins on the accretionary prism or within arc

Hydroplastication,
liquification
Late Holocene;
Miocene-Pliocene
Aleutian
megathrust and
subsidiary reverse
faults
~100150 km

Takashimizu and Combellick, 1994;

Masuda, 2000 Hamilton et al., 2005

Liquification or
fluidization

Hydroplastication, fluidization,
liquification

Hydroplastication, fluidization

Hydroplastication,
liquification and
fluidization

Late Pleistocene

Late Miocene

Pennsylvanian; Mississippian

Latest Triassic

South Gargano fault

Malatya fault

Irvine-Paint Creek fault

Bolide impact?

~60 km

~25 km

From several to 25 km

Beyond 400 km from the

putative epicenter

Moretti et al., 2002

Tagin, 2011

Greb and Dever Jr., 2002

Simms, 2003, 2007