Through lectures (12h), tutorials and critical readings of scientific articles (18h), we will discuss the evolution of concepts on the seismic cycle, the behavior of faults during an earthquake, as seen by geodesy, seismology and tectonics, but also other modes of deformation in fault zones outside the earthquake period (post-seismic relaxation mechanisms, so-called aseismic slip events or “slow earthquakes”, and possible preparatory phenomena for large earthquakes). The links between the mechanical properties of faults and their seismic or aseismic behavior, as well as the morphological signature of earthquakes accumulated over several seismic cycles will also be discussed.

The evaluation will be based on a bibliographic synthesis on a chosen theme (oral presentation and report) and a final exam (questions on an article).