Aigion EQ (Greece) derived from InSAR data and implications for extensional tectonics of the western Corinth rift

On June 15 th , 1995, a M w = 6.3 earthquake struck the western part of the Gulf of Corinth with mainshock epicentre 16 km NNE from Aigion city. The present study presents the application of SAR interferometry (InSAR) techniques for obtaining the co-seismic deformation pattern and inferring the fault model parameters for this seismic event. A second objective is test the Rigo et al., (1996) model for active tectonics of the western Gulf. Both ascending (Track 279, Frame 2835) and descending (Track 415, Frame 765) ERS-1/2 SAR acquisitions were initially selected within 2 years from the mainshock, with the aim of investigating the area affected by the earthquake under different observation directions, different atmospheric conditions and during different seismic activity phases. Standard DInSAR processing was performed in order to produce a stack of differential interferograms. A SRTM DEM of the area was used to remove the topographic component from the interferometric phase. The data time distribution appears suitable for investigating possible pre-and post-seismic activity ; however, both pre-shock and after-shock interferograms do not show evidence of any deformation pattern, as the dominant differential phase component seems principally due to atmospheric signal. An in-depth investigation of the co-seismic activity has been instead possible thanks to several suitable interferograms obtained by using both descending and ascending data. In both cases a co-seismic deformation pattern