Corinth Rift Laboratory
Ιn the wider region of the Gulf of Corinth for about 30 years a concerted effort has been made to better understand the geophysical processes (e.g. earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis) that take place in the region.
The Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL) is an international NFO, with field actions ongoing for more than 30 years by many European partners. The first permanent station was installed in 2000 and, since then, almost 80 permanent sensors – including seismometers, accelerometers, GNSS, strainmeters, tilt-meters, and tide gauges – have been operational, broadcasting real-time data. The latest addition was the installation of two long-baseline optical tilt-meters. Moreover, more than 100 campaign GNSS point are being revisited over time in order to densify the geodetic measurements.
The western part of the Gulf of Corinth is deforming at a rate that reaches 15 mm/yr, being among the fastest-opening active continental rifts worldwide. It is bounded on both sides by seismogenic normal faults, onshore and offshore. The southern coast is flanked by major north-dipping active faults, while along the northern coast, there exist steeper, south-dipping antithetic faults. Seismic activity within the Corinth Rift is characterized by the frequent occurrence of earthquake swarms, likely triggered by the propagation of pressurized fluids and pore-pressure diffusion through the fault network.
The most recent seismic crisis took place in the western part of the rift between December 2020 and February 2021, activating different faults. It involved intense swarm activity near the northern coast and culminated with an Mw=5.3 earthquake towards the west. This seismic crisis prompted the scientific community to focus on the NFO and collaborate for the publication of several studies. Other examples of seismic swarms that occurred during the present century are the 2003–2004 offshore, the 2013 Helike, and the 2015 Malamata swarms.
The area has one of the highest seismicity rates in the Euro-Mediterranean region, with, on average, one Mw≥6 earthquake per decade. Over the past 800 years, 26 events of magnitude Mw≥6 have occurred. Seven of them took place during the 20th century (1909, 1938, 1965, 1970, 1992, 1993, and 1995). In 2008, an Mw = 6.4 earthquake occurred outside CRL, but in a rupture zone connected with the Corinth Rift. The study of its characteristics was crucial for deciphering the deformation processes at the western termination of the rift.
The Gulf of Corinth is included as a Near fault Observatory[1] (NFO) within the European Plate Observing Systems (EPOS) as Corinth Rift Laboratory.
In addition to monitoring and research activities, every September, an experiential workshop, the CRL School, is held for five days, with the participation of MSc and PhD students and secondary school teachers on topics of CRL-related research. CRL School has improved public outreach and increased visibility in the scientific community.
National and European projects, which primarily addressed in-depth research issues but also contributed to the densification of the network, have been: SING, CORSEIS, 3F Corinth, DG-LAB, ASSEM, GDR-Corinth, AEGIS, 3Haz-Corinth (FP6-SUSTDE), CatTel@CRL, Jouvence CRL, SISCOR, CzechGeo/EPOS, and REAKT. Intermittently, the Hellenic Plate Observing System (HELPOS) project, which focused on the whole Greek territory, partially funded a component of infrastructure maintenance and upgrade. HELPOS, funded by the National Strategic Reference Framework of Greece and the EU, enabled sustainable long-term Earth science and earthquake engineering research strategies, along with an effective coordinated monitoring facility, inspired by and contributing to EPOS.
On March, 2024 a proposal entitled TRANSFORM², submitted in EC HORIZON, Topic HORIZON-INFRA-2024-DEV-01-01 and after a successful evaluation, it will start on December, 2024. It is being coordinated by the University of Patras, Greece, partner of the Corinth Rift Laboratory NFO. All NFOs are included, also those being in ‘observer’ status.
Since the end of 2024 a new European Commission Horizon project entitled is being implemented and coordinated from Corinth Rift Laboratory with the participation of all NFOs included those being in ‘observer’ status. TRANSFORM² has the ambitious goal of improving and transforming the existing NFOs, by integrating cutting-edge methodological and technological solutions, paving the road for the next generation NFOs across Europe. This will be achieved through the development of four ‘concepts’: I) Innovative sensors – new generation of sensors in basic and applied research related to earthquake processes; II) Elevated detectability – novel automatic workflow for enhanced detectability and characterization of earthquakes; III) Early warning – new platforms for supporting decision-makers during earthquake alerts: IV) Test-bed – next generation of accessibility for testing and development of new cutting-edge sensors and algorithms. A focus will be on bringing transformative concepts such as Machine Learning and fiber optic cable sensing to the NFO community. Breakthrough ideas will be explored and addressed with focus on analytical and feasibility control detecting weaknesses and missing elements that will be resolved within the project. Awareness and engagement of stakeholders as well as societal needs will be a priority. Issues concerning NFO funding and sustainability will be addressed.
[1] Today the Near Fault Observatories (NFOs) community is one of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) Thematic Communities (TCS), consisting of six RI that operate in regions characterized by high seismic hazard originating from different tectonic regimes. These NFOs are coordinated in a common framework, formally identified as a consortium by EPOS, are: the Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL) in Greece, the Alto Tiberina (TABOO) and the IRPINIA in Italy, the VALAIS in Switzerland, the VRANCEA in Romania and the MARMARA in Türkiye. In addition, there are three new members currently participating as observers, the Northeastern Italy Thrust Faults Observatory (NITRO) in Italy, the Postojna Cave Observatory (KARST) in Slovenia, and the West Bohemia/Vogtland, at the western shoulder of Eger Rift (EGER) in Czechia,