Revision of the earthquake catalogue and seismicity of Croatia, 1908–1992

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper presents the results of Croatian earthquake catalogue revision for the period 1908–1992. The revised catalogue lists a total of 4853 events (4486 after 1908), of which 3700 are mainshocks. All primary data sources available to us (seismograms, phase onset time readings, macroseismic questionnaires…) were consulted in order to improve the quality and reliability of magnitude, intensity and location. Along with the most important earthquake parameters the catalogue contains entries that enable assessment of the reliability of location and bibliographic references. Using the temporal analysis of the maximum‐likelihood estimate of the b ‐value in the frequency‐magnitude relation, the catalogue is estimated to be complete for events with M ≥ 4.0 throughout the investigated period. The magnitude completeness threshold decreases to 3.8 after the middle of the century, and to about 3.6 in the last three decades. It is noted that the b‐value variation with time is closely tied to the seismic activity, as well as that at present there seems to be a lack of seismic energy release corresponding to the M = 6.0–6.5 earthquake.