The 2017 Kos sequence: Aftershocks relocation and coseismic rupture process constrained from joint inversion of seismological and geodetic observations

On 20 July 2017 (22:31:10 UTC), an Mw6.6 earthquake took place offshore Kos Island, in the southeastern (SE) Aegean Sea, producing severe damage and loss of life in the city of Kos and several smaller cities and villages both in Kos Island (Greece) and in the Bodrum peninsula (Turkey). All available seismological data until the end of October 2017 were gathered from seismological stations located in Greece and Turkey for the relocation process. The relocated aftershocks are clustered at least in three distinctive patches, creating a zone reaching a total length of about 40 km, elongated in a nearly east-west direction, and are mainly concentrated at depths 8–15 km, with the main shock hypocenter placed at ~13 km, implying a seismogenic layer of 7 km thickness, indicative for normal faulting earthquakes with Mmax ~ 6.5. The aftershock fault plane solutions are predominantly normal faulting in response to the north–south extension of the back arc Aegean area and consistent with the broader regional stress field. We also applied the satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) technique to define the coseismic surface displacements, revealing the range of deformation on the Island and the surrounding mainland. We combined this deformation field along with the available vectors of displacement measured by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technique with the seismological data to determine the fault geometry and rupture process. The resulted variable slip model indicates a rather elliptical rupture area of 306 km2, with the coseismic slip ranging between 0.5 and 2.3 m. The peak moment release occurred in the depth interval of 9–11 km, consistent with the depth distribution of seismicity in the study area. We used the variable slip model to calculate Coulomb stress changes and investigate possible triggering due to stress transfer to the nearby fault segments.