Seismotectonic and seismic hazard maps of Lithuania – recent implications of intracratonic seismicity in the Eastern Baltic Region

Abstract

Lithuania, situated in the western part of the East European Craton, is regarded as an intracratonic area of low seismicity. Several dozens of earthquakes of intensity up to VII (MSK-64) have been recorded since 1616 implying the possible occurrence of stronger earthquakes. The northern part of the Baltic Region is seismically more active than the southern one, but the Kaliningrad earthquakes of 2004 showed the necessity to re-assess the seismicity of the region. The identification of seismogenic faults in the Baltic Region is rather complicated due to the small scale of tectonic structures and significant errors of the location of seismic events and even the location and distribution of faults. Nevertheless, the seismic hazard and seismotectonic maps of Lithuania have been recently compiled implying the highest seismic hazard of 32.6 cm/s2 PGA in Eastern and 25–30 cm/s2 in Northern Lithuania. The majority of the territory is described by PGAs of 10–20 cm/s2.