Storm Alex made its mark in 2020. In less than 24 hours, intense rainfall reached almost 600 mm, devastating the Alpes-Maritimes and causing major flooding and landslides. Valleys north of Nice, such as Vésubie, Roya and Tinée, were particularly hard hit. Following this event, stations in the Epos-France seismological network detected a significant increase in seismic activity. What does science have to say?
In June 2024, researchers from the Université Côte d’Azur at Géoazur and the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne published a study in the American Geophysical Union’s journal Earth and Space Science, highlighting an interaction between fluids and asismic slip in the triggering and maintenance of seismic activity following this extreme meteorological event.
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Jacquemond, L., Godano, M., Cappa, F., Larroque, C. (2024), Interplay between fluid intrusion and aseismic stress perturbations in the onset of earthquake swarms following the 2020 Alex extreme rainstorm. Earth and Space Science, 11, e2024EA003528. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EA003528