The 2005 Qeshm Island earthquake (Iran)-a link between buried reverse faulting and surface folding in the Zagros Simply Folded Belt?

The 2005 November 27 Qeshm Island earthquake (M_w 6.0) provides an excellent opportunity to study coseismic deformation in the Zagros Simply Folded Belt with Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry (InSAR). Typical of reverse faulting in the Zagros, slip in the Qeshm Island earthquake did not rupture the surface. However, ascending and descending track interferograms spanning the earthquake both show an elliptical pattern of surface deformation in the central part of the island. We invert the interferometric data to attain a set of source parameters; these show ~1 m slip on a steep (~50°), north-dipping reverse fault, extending from a maximum depth of ~8 up to ~4 km below the surface. Limited aeromagnetic data suggests the fault ruptured the sedimentary cover; whether its deepest parts also affected the crystalline basement is not clear. Source parameters from seismic body wave modelling agree with those from the interferometric modelling. Using the InSAR-derived model, we produce a map of coseismic vertical displacements, with which we compare the surface structure of the island. Coseismic uplift is centred on the eastern end of a major anticline, which trends E-W, parallel with the fault. The long-term growth of this fold may be controlled primarily by repeated earthquakes on this fault. However, the uplifted region extends to parts of other nearby folds, whose long-term growth must have other controls; moreover, a region of coseismic subsidence lies very close to a part of the Qeshm island coastline that displays raised beaches, evidence of Quaternary uplift. Therefore the link between reverse faulting and surface folding is not wholly evident from this earthquake alone. The local structure is complicated by orthogonal fold axes; it may take a large earthquake in a simpler structural setting within the Zagros to establish convincingly whether a one-to-one correlation between faulting and folding exists.