Tectonic activity and earthquake risk in the Chengnanhe fault zone in Weihai city, Shandong province, China, obtained by using an integrated prospecting technique in geophysics and geology

For city planning and reducing potential earthquake risk, it’s necessary to detect the information of the buried faults in an urban area especially, including the location and activities. An integrated technique with geophysical and geological methods, including the shallow seismic reflection profile, electrical resistivity measurement, geologic borehole section, and exploration trench, was used to detect the Chengnanhe fault, which is one of the two main faults passing through the Weihai urban area in Shandong province, China. The results show that it is a normal fault striking with E-W direction, and it is relatively inactive and stable. By using the thermoluminescence (TL) dating, we found that the Chengnanhe fault initiated in mid-Pleistocene and there was no offset after late Pleistocene. Such an integrated technique with multiple geological and geophysical methods provides a significant assessment of earthquake risk for city planning in urban areas.