A 2600-yr-long paleoseismic record for the Himalayan Main Frontal Thrust (Western Bhutan)

Abstract. In spite of an increasing number of paleoseismic studies carried out over the last decade along the Himalayan arc, the chronology of historical and pre-historical earthquakes is still poorly constrained. In this paper, we present geomorphologic and paleoseismic studies conducted over a large river-cut exposure along the Main Fontal Thrust in southwestern Bhutan. The Piping site reveals a 30-m-high fault-propagation fold deforming late Holocene alluvial deposits. There, we carried out detailed paleoseismic investigations and built a chronological framework on the basis of 22 detrital charcoal samples submitted to radiocarbon dating. Our analysis reveals the occurrence of at least five large and great earthquakes between 485 ± 125 BC and AD 1714 with an average recurrence interval of 550 ± 211 yr. Co-seismic slip values for most events reach at least 13 m and suggest associated magnitudes are in the range of Mw 8.5–9. The cumulative deformation yields an average slip rate of 25.3 ± 4 mm/yr along the Main Frontal Thrust, over the last 2600 yr in agreement with geodetic and geomorphological results obtained nearby.