Investigating the architecture of the Paganica Fault (2009Mw 6.1 earthquake, central Italy) by integrating high-resolution multiscale refraction tomography and detailed geological mapping

We present a 2-D subsurface image of the Paganica Fault from a high-resolution refraction tomography and detailed geological investigation carried out across part of the northwestern segment of the 20-km-long Paganica-San Demetrio fault-system, and which was responsible of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.1 L'Aquila earthquake (central Italy). We acquired two seismic profiles crossing the Paganica basin with a dense-wide aperture configuration. More than 30 000 P wave first-arrival traveltimes were input to a non-linear tomographic inversion. The obtained 250-300 m deep 2-D Vp images illuminate the shallow portion of the Paganica Fault, and depict additional unreported splays defining a complex half-graben structure. We interpret local thickening of low-Vp (