Keith Priestley

The NW Himalayan “seismic gap” lies between the 1905 and 2005 earthquake rupture zones and straddles the meisoseismal zone of the 1555‐Kashmir earthquake. Sufficient elastic strain has now accumulated across this region to drive a mega‐thrust earthquake. We model the crustal structure and geometry of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) using Jammu and Kashmir Seismological NETwork data. P‐wave receiver‐function spatial and common‐conversion‐point (CCP) stacks, and joint inversion with Rayleigh‐wave group‐velocities are used to construct 3D V s model of the region. This model reveals increasing crustal thickness from foreland‐to‐hinterland, and an under‐thrust Indian crust beneath NW Himalaya. The Moho is at ∼45 km depth beneath Sub‐Himalaya deepening to ∼70 km beneath Higher‐to‐Tethyan Himalaya with a gentle NE dip. The MHT forms a low‐velocity layer and has a flat–ramp geometry. The flat segment is beneath Sub‐to‐Lesser Himalaya at 6–10 km depth, and dips ∼4°. The mid‐crustal (frontal) ramp is beneath Kishtwar Higher‐Himalaya and Zanskar Range at 10–16 km depth, and dips ∼13–17°. Crustal structure varies along‐arc between east (Kishtwar) and west (Kashmir Valley) segments. A Lesser Himalayan duplex (LHD) lies beneath the Kishtwar Window and is bound by MHT and Main Central Thrust. The LHD high‐angle imbricate structures are illuminated by moderate seismicity. Beneath Kashmir Valley, the underthrust crust is ∼10 km thicker, has higher crustal V s , and a shallower MHT at ∼10 km depth. The westward shallowing of MHT occurs through a lateral ramp. Aftershocks of the 2013‐Kishtwar earthquake concentrate on the frontal–lateral ramp intersection and mark the MHT down‐dip locked‐to‐creep transition.