~ TECTONOPHYS

C
IS
II

ELSEVIER Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116

Quaternary state of stress in the Northern Andes and the

restraining bend model for the Ecuadorian Andes
Frederic Ego a,,, Michel S~brier a, Alain Lavenu b,c, Hugo Yepes a, Arturo Egues e
~ CNRS, URA 1369 and Universit~ de Paris Sud, Laboratoire de G~ologie Dynamique et Interne, B~timent 509, 91405 Orsay Cedex,
France
~ ORSTOM, 213 Rue La Fayette, 75480 Paris Cedex 10, France
c Unh,ersit~ de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, Laboratoire de G~odynamique et Mod~.lisation des Bassins $~dimentaires. Avenue de
l'UniversitL 64000 Pau, France
~ Escuela Polit~cnica National de Quito, Instituto de Geofisica, Quito, Ecuador
e Escuela Polit~cnica National de Quito. Departamenw de Geologia, Quito, Ecuador

Received 17 November 1994; accepted 26 June 1995

Abstract

Inversion of shallow focal mechanisms in the Northern Andes, together with a neotectonic analysis of the Ecuadorian
Andes, shows that the state of stress is homogeneous in most of the Northern Andes (E-W-trending o'1). However, north of
5°N, ~r1 is roughly N W - S E trending. This difference in state of stress is due to the force balance between the Nazca,
Caribbean and South American plates. South of 5°N, the state of stress appears to be mainly controlled by the Nazca-South
American plate interaction, while, north of 5°N it appears to be mainly controlled by the Caribbean-South American plate
interaction. This state of stress difference from south to north is consistent with dextral motions along faults trending parallel
to the chain south of 5°N and sinistral motions along faults trending parallel to the chain north of 5°N. This inversion of
shallow focal mechanisms also illustrates the incomplete strain partitioning of the oblique convergence between the Nazca
and South American plates along the Ecuadorian-southern Colombian trench. The convergence obliquity that increases
northward controls the active transcurrent fault slip rate in the upper plate. Finally, this convergence obliquity is responsible
for the location of the seismicity in the upper plate. In addition, the Andean Block is considered in this paper as a large triple
zone under constriction, with one of its borders (Caribbean) behaving partly as a free border.

I. Introduction shortened and pinched out toward the north-north-

The geodynamics of the Andean Block, i.e., of
the Northern Andes (Pennington, 1981; Kellogg and
Bonini, 1982) are controlled by the complex interac-
tion o f the Nazca, South American and Caribbean
convergent plates (Fig. 1). The Andean Block is
* Corresponding author.
east, i.e., toward the Caribbean plate, due to the
oblique, roughly E - W - t r e n d i n g convergence be-
tween the Nazca and South American plates. This
oblique convergence is accommodated in the upper
plate by active NNE-trending dextral faults. The East
Andean Front Fault Zone located between the An-
dean Block and the South American plate is usually
considered as the main active dextral fault zone
(Pennington, 1981; Kellogg and Bonini, 1982; Ag-

0040-1951/96/$15.00 © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

SSDI 0040- 1951(95)00075-5
102 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116

garwal et al., 1983; Mann and Burke, 1984; Soulas, starts in Ecuador east of the Guayaquil Gulf as the
1986; Toussaint and Restrepo, 1987; Mann and Cor- dextral Pallatanga Fault (Soulas et al., 1991; Winter
rigan, 1990). The East Andean Front Fault Zone et al., 1993). In northern Ecuador, the Pallatanga

I "' I I I I
75"W
12ON~¢4"w 8I*W 780W Z /

CARIBBEAN PLATE
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NAZCA PLATE
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- 4~N ~ ~ M . .

SOUTH AMERICAN
PLATE
2~N

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CARRIBgAN
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 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116 103

Fault j u m p s to the eastern side of the Andean
Cordillera where it is called the C h i n g u a l - l a Sofia
Fault (Fig. 1; Soulas et al., 1991; Tibaldi and Ferrari,
1992; Ego, 1993; Ego et al., 1993). In addition,
several Quaternary N - S - t r e n d i n g folds and reverse
faults have been reported in northern Ecuador
(Winter, 1990; Ego, 1993; Ego et al., 1993) between
the Pallatanga and C h i n g u a l - L a Sofia faults and are
interpreted as a restraining bend (Fig. 1; Ego et al.,
1993. Up to now, no global study on the Andean
Block state of stress, has illustrated the force balance
variations between the Nazca, Caribbean and South
American plates.
We hereafter present the spatial variations of the
current state of stress of the Andean Block, as de-
duced from inversion of shallow focal mechanism
data. These seismological data, based on a 30-yr
period are compared with field structural data. The
results show that most of the Andean Block is
undergoing a homogeneous E - W - o r i e n t e d compres-
sion. Slip rates on the major strike-slip and reverse
faults are calculated, in relation with oblique conver-
gence variation, along the E c u a d o r i a n - C o l o m b i a n
trench segment.
2. Data
Focal mechanisms of 119 shallow earthquakes
with depths < 60 km have been determined from the
world seismic network since 1963 (see Table 1).
Most of these 119 focal solutions are Centro'id Mo-
ment Tensor solutions (CMT) from Dziewonski et al.
(1981--1992). According to Kanamori and Given
(1981), C M T inversions may be strongly biased for
moderate-size earthquakes (5 < m b _< 6). The major
problem (Dziewonski et al., 1981) occurs for shallow
earthquakes ranging between 5 and 10 km depth.
The ground motion is relatively insensitive to the
M r O and M r + vertical dip-slip components of the
m o m e n t tensor, and consequently, inversions may be
unstable. The resolution of all elements of the mo-
ment tensor improves appreciably for depths greater
than 10 km. Kawakatsu and Proafio Cadena (1991)
have proposed a new method to incorporate first
motion polarity data with the Centro'id Moment Ten-
sor (CMT) of Dziewonski et al. (1981). They applied
this method for three C M T solutions of the large
earthquake sequence that occurred in Ecuador along
the western border of the East Andean Front Fault
Zone on March 6, 1987. These three solutions corre-
spond to a foreshock (76 and 76'), a main shock (77,
77') and a major aftershock (78, 78') (see Table 1).
This new method shows that the obtained solutions
are very similar to the CMT ones for the foreshock
and the mainshock, whereas they are different for the
aftershock (see Table 1).
As we have few data available with depths rang-
ing between 5 and 10 km, we will consider that
C M T inversions are valuable for global statistical
studies. In addition, since higher-magnitude events
have a better CMTS, data were weighted according
to their magnitudes for inversion computation. On
the other hand, non CMT data correspond generally
to high magnitude and are consequently fairly con-
strained. Thus, we consider that the 119 focal solu-

Fig. 1. (A) location of the Andean Block. (B) The Northern Andes micro-plate, i.e., the Andean Block (Pennington, 1981; Kellogg and
Bonini, 1982) is bounded by the South American,Nazca and Caribbeanplates. To the east, the Andean Block boundaryis the East Andean
Front Fault Zone, to the west the Nazca plate with a relative convergence trending N81 + 5°E (DeMets et al., 1990; Dewey and Lamb,
1992) with a slip rate of 78 mm/yr (Minster and Jordan, 1978; DeMets et al., 1990), and to the northwestthe Panama Arc-South America
Suture Zone (PASAS) (Mann and Corrigan, 1990). To the north, the Andean Block is bounded by the Caribbean plate with a relative
convergence trending N113 ± 10°E with a slip rate of 12 + 4 mm/yr (DeMets et al., 1990) and limited by the South Carribean Deformed
Belt (SCDB) (Adamek et al., 1988). (C) The restrainingbend sketch for the northern EcuadorianAndes where the Inter-AndeanValley is a
N-S-oriented compressiverelay betweentwo NNE-SSW-trendingmajor fight-lateralstrike-slipfaults, the Chingual-La Sofia Fault and the
PallatangaFault. Legend: 1 = trench; 2 = thrust; 3 = transcurrentfault; 4 = transcurrent-reverse fault; 5 = plate convergence.Major active
structures in Northern Andes. BF = Bocono Fault; CSF = Rio Chingual-La Sofia Fault; CPRFS = Canca-Patia and Romeral Fault System;
EAFFZ = East Andean Front Fault Zone; ESF = Espiritu Santo Fault; IAV = lnter-AndeanValley; OF = Oca Fault; PF = PallatangaFault;
SMF = Santa Marta Fault; SAFFZ = Sub-AndeanFront Fault Zone; LL O = LLanos Ofientales. Main parameters of oblique convergence:
T = trench azimuth; 3' = obliquity angle; q~= angle between the normal to the trench and slip vectors trend; Vn = normal to the trench
component; Vt = parallel to the trench component; Vs = parallel to the trench component acommodated by the upper plate. TI = 42°;
7"2 = 22% 3'1 = 50°; y2 = 30°; ~Ol = 45 ± 2; q~2 = 25 ± 2.
104 F. Ego et al. /Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116

Table 1
Focal mechanisms parameters
No. Date Time (UT) Lat Long Depth NP1 NP2 T axis Mw mb Ref
(d/mon/yr) (h/min/s) (°) (°) (km) Strike Dip Strike Dip PI Az
001 10/05/63 22/22/42 -2.2 -77.6 33.0 025 74 117 83 16 341 6.63 b
002 03/11/63 03/10/13 -2.2 -77.6 33.0 346 53 172 37 81 239 6.29 b
003 02/08/65 7.4 78.7 2.0 331 30 134 60 74 022 a
004 09/01/67 5.1 77.6 20.0 067 60 301 40 64 275 a
005 09/02/67 15/24/47 2.9 - 74.8 48.0 033 60 137 72 27 004 7.1 c
006 21/06/67 06/49 -2.25 - 77.75 62.0 138 88 048 88 03 003 5.4 d
007 26/09/70 6.4 - 77.75 8.0 175 84 355 06 51 085 6.0 c
008 27/09/70 6.5 - 77.4 6.0 200 18 020 72 27 110 5.8 c
009 03/12/70 04/59 7.31 - 76.12 5.0 003 50 262 82 38 216 5.6 f
010 10/12/70 04/34/40 -4.0 - 80.7 16.0 159 24 339 66 60 249 7.14 c
011 16/12/70 01/00 6.0 -77.5 13.0 010 76 190 14 31 I00 5.6 c
012 23/02/73 04/26/21 -2.16 - 78.33 10.0 026 71 156 26 60 322 5.98 c
013 24/04/73 5.0 - 78.1 42.0 205 70 082 34 20 316 c
014 13/07/74 01/18 7.8 - 77.6 12.0 017 72 174 19 62 296 6.4 f
015 14/07/74 02/13 7.7 - 77.60 15.0 150 60 025 44 58 006 5.8 f
016 27/09/74 04/09/01 2.7 - 71.4 44.0 135 90 225 90 00 000 6.73 c
017 25/01/75 02/08 7.2 -77.8 40.0 323 30 194 70 57 090 6.0 c
018 25/08/75 03/57 6.9 - 77.8 47.0 322 38 208 73 50 156 5.2 f
019 05/11/75 01/58 6.3 - 76.90 44.0 336 44 066 90 30 300 5.4 f
020 21/11/75 7.6 - 77.5 30.0 350 50 244 72 42 199 5.8 c
021 29/11/75 09/19 6.3 -76,90 17.0 336 44 066 90 30 300 5.0 f
022 09/04/76 07/08/50 0.8 -79.8 9.0 077 48 174 82 35 045 6.65 c
023 11/07/76 7.4 -78.0 3.0 217 70 037 20 65 133 c
024 10/08/76 2.2 - 79.0 12.0 215 74 035 16 61 125 5.5 c
025 06/10/76 09/12/39 -0.8 -78.8 33.0 161 72 013 20 62 058 5.81 c
026 11/11/76 5.0 - 78.2 33.0 216 82 036 08 37 306 c
027 08/05/77 16/45/11 -2.17 - 80.99 29.0 336 16 184 76 58 104 5.56 h
028 08/08/77 07/00/14 6.93 - 77.78 15.0 287 19 173 82 50 103 5.43 h
029 31/08/77 00/42/12 7.40 -75.97 15.0 101 17 007 89 41 081 6.58 h
030 21/01/78 08/19/35 6.54 - 72.75 15.0 094 35 194 83 30 311 5.46 h
031 16/02/78 03/47/35 5.84 - 78.24 15.0 249 36 053 55 09 150 5.71 h
032 02/08/78 23/59/30 7.29 - 78.00 15.0 021 40 260 67 55 213 5.59 h
033 01/03/79 14/33/19 0.59 - 80.46 18.3 023 24 175 69 65 066 5.74 h
034 23/11/79 23/40 4.80 - 76.22 40.0 228 83 136 70 20 094 6.4 c
035 12/12/79 08/00/07 2.32 -78.81 19.7 030 16 181 76 58 081 8.15 h
036 13/12/79 02/43/44 5.66 - 80.46 15.0 168 90 258 90 00 123 6.05 h
037 13/12/79 05/38/02 2.88 - 79.49 15.0 045 19 207 72 63 108 6.32 h
038 31/12/79 23/07/28 1.93 - 79.71 15.0 031 21 170 74 59 061 6.07 h
039 07/01/80 00/33/40 2.74 -79.06 15.0 030 15 185 77 58 087 5.3 h
040 26/01/80 15/27/22 2.52 -79.84 15.0 012 22 207 69 66 127 5.74 h
041 11/05/80 09/26/02 1.95 - 80.32 15.0 330 56 065 83 28 293 5.53 h
042 03/09/80 22/12/41 2.63 - 78.53 37.4 001 20 186 70 65 099 6.17 h
043 02/01/81 07/37/02 0.93 -79.37 15.0 026 42 252 58 08 322 5.97 h
044 03/01/81 01/23/42 2.13 - 78.95 18.0 253 24 020 75 28 125 5.5 h
045 07/01/81 07/01/41 1.72 - 79.31 15.0 032 33 240 60 14 319 5.61 h
046 28/02/81 21/56/31 - 6.72 - 81.41 40.0 340 40 181 52 78 142 6.12 h
047 27/04/81 22/53/19 6.90 -76.42 15.0 005 75 098 79 03 231 5.46 h
048 06/05/81 21/36/14 - 1.99 - 80.97 17.4 339 17 168 73 62 082 6,49 h
049 16/05/81 09/04/20 7,76 -77.11 21.0 236 22 051 68 67 318 5,48 h
050 05/06/81 23/34/57 - 4,20 - 80.79 40.1 338 44 180 48 11 157 5,24 h
051 27/06/81 21/54/18 - 3,03 - 79.97 39.0 298 30 045 80 29 158 5,30 h
 F. Ego et al./Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116 105

Table 1 (continued)
No. Date Time (UT) Lat Long Depth NPI NP2 T axis M,~ mb Ref
(d/mon/yr) (h/min/s) (°) (°) (kin) Strike Dip Strike Dip PI Az
052 07/07/81 10/25/53 2.77 -79.87 15.0 016 43 180 48 03 278 5.36 h
053 19/08/81 14/29/45 -3.98 - 80.71 39.7 093 38 280 53 04 097 5.14 h
054 25/08/81 16/54/45 7.12 -76.58 15.0 183 76 092 83 15 047 5.58 h
055 25/08/81 17/29/14 7.24 -76.58 15.0 358 71 091 82 07 223 5.36 h
056 27/08/81 13/52/46 7.06 -76.58 15.0 003 76 096 76 00 229 5.3 h
057 31/03/83 13/12/59 2.45 -76.81 56.8 026 76 117 85 75 136 5.69 h
058 22/11/83 14/21/10 0.31 -79.99 35.2 033 24 167 72 59 053 6.81 h
059 17/01/84 16/19/07 -3.75 - 81.78 13.4 303 45 139 47 82 124 5.59 h
060 28/04/84 20/12/05 -2.00 -78.19 15.5 199 26 358 65 68 250 5.68 h
061 13/05/84 23/53/32 -4.16 -81.01 20.5 108 28 298 62 73 219 5.06 h
062 03/06/84 04/10/29 -8.11 -76.39 42.7 199 35 351 58 72 224 5.22 h
063 05/06/84 04/15/27 - 7.26 - 76.71 26.5 200 20 354 72 62 251 5.66 h
064 30/07/84 04/27/33 2,58 -79.35 44.5 035 33 179 62 17 188 5.02 h
065 10/04/85 20/15/45 1,94 -77.21 46.7 081 38 244 53 07 342 5.26 h
066 10/06/85 03/23/38 3.24 -78.99 26.0 032 19 176 74 59 070 5.6 h
067 26/07/85 17/56/59 -5.44 -78.96 25.1 161 31 351 59 75 274 5.32 h
068 19/01/86 08/03/26 0.44 - 80.06 40.0 031 22 184 70 64 078 5.06 h
069 29/01/86 13/34/16 7.08 -76.58 15.0 273 82 182 82 00 227 5.74 h
070 23/04/86 20/27/14 - 3.97 - 81.22 25.5 128 29 277 64 67 160 5.36 h
071 13/08/86 15/27/29 8.00 -74.74 59.8 274 51 016 76 16 140 5.27 i
072 20/12/86 05/04/44 - 7.35 - 75.46 33.0 057 09 178 86 40 274 5.25 h
073 13/01/87 13/24/05 5.68 -78.90 15.0 000 72 094 80 20 318 6.02 h
074 13/01/87 19/30/23 5.87 -78.86 15.0 003 74 094 87 14 319 5.86 h
075 25/01/87 10/31/31 3.30 -79.31 15.4 019 32 221 60 14 303 5.80 h
076 06/03/87 01/54/57 0.19 -77.19 10.0 198 20 348 73 61 244 6.46 h
076' - 01/54/50 0.19 -77.19 10.0 007 74 173 16 61 282 6.3 k
077 06/03/87 04/10/55 - 0.06 - 77.84 15.0 195 27 007 64 71 268 7.2 h
077' - 04/10/41 0.09 -77.37 10.0 358 70 196 21 64 259 7.0 k
078 06/03/87 08/14/58 0.31 -77.73 15.0 226 40 125 81 26 186 6.05 h
078' 08/14/48 0.01 -77.96 10.0 218 42 334 68 02 002 5.8 k
079 10/03/87 22/20/36 5.86 -76.41 50.9 258 19 086 1 64 000 5.02 h
080 12/03/87 11/02/31 -3.45 -81.44 15.0 347 25 119 72 59 004 5.19 h
081 19/03/87 01/29/01 7.13 -76.30 15.0 038 17 201 74 61 104 5.43 h
082 14/05/87 16/04/29 - 5.84 - 81.37 15.0 355 22 170 68 67 076 6.0 h
083 22/09/87 13/43/45 -0.89 -78.24 15.0 218 42 334 68 52 201 6.4 h
084 22/09/87 16/21/41 -0.98 -78.24 19.4 197 42 330 59 63 190 6.02 h
085 27/09/87 04/06/54 -6.75 -81.69 15.0 347 17 156 74 61 061 5.53 h
086 31/10/87 08/52/35 -7.05 -80.86 22.1 341 20 169 70 65 084 5.89 h
087 11/11/87 15/04/55 6.89 -76.14 29.9 092 13 207 84 49 105 5.4 h
088 02/04/88 19/45/09 - 5.55 - 80.92 33.6 358 17 171 73 62 077 5.4 h
089 12/04/88 15/26/17 -3.10 -76.84 43.3 346 37 208 60 66 162 5.26 h
090 20/09/88 17/56/24 4.99 -77.68 24.1 014 18 179 73 62 082 5.88 h
091 26/11/88 18/40/23 6.95 -77.89 21.4 316 29 098 67 20 201 5.43 h
092 09/12/88 20/29/41 -2.36 -78.31 15.0 002 11 243 85 50 164 5.43 h
093 17/01/89 11/20/51 5.93 79.01 15.0 184 90 274 90 00 139 5~15 h
094 12/02/89 20/03/16 2.41 -79.44 33.0 340 46 195 50 02 268 5.16 h
095 04/05/89 10/30/07 -6.61 -75.76 36.0 340 58 128 35 72 287 5.5 g
096 25/06/89 20/37/43 0.81 -79.92 16.0 027 25 174 69 64 063 6.35 h
097 09/09/89 01/40/42 1.92 -79.53 15.0 001 29 218 66 20 295 5.74 h
098 20/01/90 16/59/07 -6.53 -81.25 15.0 334 19 169 71 63 086 5.48 h
099 10/02/90 17/12/14 -3.54 -81.07 15.0 138 58 235 79 31 101 5.6 h
100 30/05/90 02/34/06 - 6.02 - 77.23 24.0 332 69 190 23 63 223 6.1 g
106 F. Ego et aL / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101 - 116

Table 1 (continued)
No. Date Time (UT) Lat Long Depth NPI NP2 T axis M,~ m~ Ref
(d/mon/yr) (h/min/s) (°) (°) (kin) Strike Dip Strike Dip PI Az
101 29/07/90 15/29/17 -4.62 -80.36 60.5 010 17 223 76 58 145 5.24 h
102 11/08/90 03/00/06 0.01 -78.15 15.0 323 45 190 55 64 157 5.3 h
103 25/08/90 11/43/26 5.71 -77.93 35.1 350 36 183 51 79 123 5.3 h
104 25/08/90 11/47/40 6.26 -77.63 16.8 040 20 174 76 57 065 5.6 h
105 02/09/90 04/26/58 - 0.15 - 80.58 21.2 022 27 174 65 67 062 6.27 h
106 25/11/90 12/32/53 -2.70 -77.79 25.0 020 35 190 55 79 080 5.4 h
107 04/04/91 03/23/05 7.66 -78.61 16.8 316 28 113 64 69 002 6.2 h
108 04/04/91 15/13/03 -6.24 -76.72 26.9 171 20 005 71 64 283 6.43 h
109 05/04/91 04/20/05 -5.93 -76.84 39.7 183 33 344 58 74 226 6.98 h
110 25/06/91 23/07/11 5.76 -72.90 15.0 227 90 317 90 00 182 5.25 h
111 04/08/91 07/45/34 -0.86 -80.96 15.6 033 17 164 78 55 059 5.48 h
112 19/11/91 22/29/01 4.80 -77.18 19.1 013 13 188 77 58 97 7.24 h
113 10/12/91 23/19/56 4.74 -77.48 20.7 045 22 186 72 60 76 5.27 h
114 08/02/92 08/22/34 7.14 -78,54 15.0 176 90 266 90 00 131 5.08 h
115 17/08/92 00/52/24 -4.25 -78,21 52.0 262 63 007 63 40 224 5.31 h
116 18/08/92 12/54/00 -2.91 -79,78 42.1 039 25 177 71 60 063 5.29 h
117 17/10/92 08/32/40 6.84 - 76.80 08.0 280 40 039 67 54 266 6.59 i
118 18/10/92 15/11/53 7.07 - 76.86 11.0 111 82 021 86 03 066 7.28 i
119 23/10/92 09/28/09 6.66 -77.24 15.0 217 29 097 74 54 037 5.52 h

NPI = first nodal plane; NP2 = second nodal plane; T= tension axis. Indentification of sources: a = Molnar and Sykes (1979); b = Stauder
(1975); c=Pennington (1981); d=Chinn and lsacks (1983); e=Suarez et al. (1983); f = Page (1986); g = Assump~ao (1992);
h = Dziewonski et al. (1981-1992); i = U.S.G.S., N.E.I.C. (1988); k = Kawakatsu and Proafio Cadena (1991).

tions provide a good indication o f the global defor-
mation pattern in an area.
3. Area partitioning
All 119 shallow focal mechanisms are located
within the Northern Andes ( 8 ° N - 8 ° S , 7 2 - 8 2 ° W )
(Fig. 2). However, their epicenters are not equally
distributed. Most of the events occurred in the An-
dean subduction zone and in the compressional Sub-
Andean back-arc area. In contrast, few events are
located in the Andean Cordillera. Eight areas have
been defined, each one corresponding to a specific
structural province and to an epicentral distribution
o f focal mechanisms location (Fig. 2). However,
between the eight areas, there is indeed some seismic
activity; but no seismic event has been large enough
for the last 30 years to determine its source mecha-
nism.
Three areas bound the Andean Block to the west
and correspond to the Andean subduction zone and
forearc:
Area I is located in the northwesternmost part of
South America, on the P a n a m a - B a u d o Block and its
associated subduction zone (Case et al., 1971; Tous-
saint and Restrepo, 1987). It is bounded to the west
by the Nazca plate which dips 30 ° eastward (Meis-
sner et al., 1976; Flueh et al., 1981), and to the east
by its underthrust front zone below the Andean
Block. This eastern border should be located in the
Atrato valley (Kellogg and Bonini, 1982; Mann and
Burke, 1984) and is defined as the Panama A r c -
South A m er i ca Suture Zone (Fig. 1; Mann and Corri-
gan, 1990).
Area II is located along the southern Colombian
and Ecuadorian coastal area, north of the Guayaquil
Gulf where the Andean subduction dips 35 ° eastward
(Pennington, 1981). This area also includes some
forearc focal mechanisms. However, most of them
represent the interaction between the South Ameri-
can and Nazca plates.
Area III is located to the south of the Guayaquil
Gulf along southern Ecuadorian and northernmost
Peruvian coastal area. It is located south o f a transi-
tion zone, north o f which the Nazca plate dips 35 °
 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 1 0 1 - 1 1 6 107

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,'
~ 6~s-
"".,.

-~
~

~
!

~ ~~
, ......
..~ 'L ~. ~
~
.°°'"' N

_~ ~
.............

~ ~::~!::~:;{~:~(~.~a,~, ~-
! :,,..,',:...,, I
I

~ gl~ [ ~ ~DE~ ~ N ~ 3 S~D A~AS

I I I ~ ~
Fig. 2. Location of areas with their respective state of stress obtained from the inversion of focal solutions. Due to few data, only a test has
been performed for Area VI. Solid black arrows: tr~ orientation.
108 F. Ego et a l . / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116
eastward, and south of which the subduction is flat
(Fig. 2).
Two areas only were distinguished within the
Andean Block as no seismic solution is available
south of l°S. Moreover, south of the Andean Block,
the Andean seismicity is low. The separation is
chiefly based on the change of the Andean strike in
northern Colombia. In addition, no seismic focal
mechanism is available:
Area IV is located in the northernmost part of the
Colombian Cordillera Occidental. Some major active
faults are located in this area as the Espiritu Santo
Fault and the northern Cauca-Patia and Romeral
Fault System (Figs. 1 and 2).
Area V corresponds to the southernmost extension
of the Cauca and Romeral faults in Colombia and the
transpressive Quito region, bounding the Andean
Block to the east (Figs. 1 and 2). All the epicenters
are located where the topography ranges between
2500 and 3500 m.
Three areas included in the South American plate,
bound the Andean Block to the east. They are lo-
cated east of the East Andean Front Fault Zone and
correspond to the Sub-Andean back-arc domain:
Area VI corresponds to the northern Colombian
Sub-Andean zone, i.e., "the Llanos Orientales"
(Figs. 1 and 2).
Area VII is located to the south of the Sub-Andean
seismic gap of southern Colombia-northern Ecuador
and to the east of the Andean chain (Figs. 1 and 2).
Area VIII is located, as area VII, in the northern
Peruvian Sub-Andean region, just to the east of
Chachapoyas (Fig. 2).
4. Data analysis
Data inversion (same method as Carey-Gailhardis
and Mercier, 1987) was performed in each area. This
method allows to calculate the mean state of stress
corresponding to a population of focal mechanisms,
selecting one of the two nodal planes as fault plane.
It is based on the mechanical model used for the
analysis of fault population; this supposes that the
slip occurs in the same direction as the resolved
shear stress acting on fault plane. The proposed
algorithm first defines compressional and tensional
zones resulting from supefimpositon of the com-
pressional and tensional quadrants limited by the
nodal planes. This enables one to test the data homo-
geneity. Furthermore, this restricts the space where
the principal stress axes have to be searched. Then,
for each principal stress reference whose location is
constrained by confined zones, the R value, equal to
(o'2 - o'1 )/(o'3 - o.1), is computed which fits the slip
vector on each nodal plane. This permits one to
select a set of preferred seismic fault planes, with an
R value ranging between 0 and 1, from a set of
auxiliary planes, with an R value greater than 1 or
lower than 0. Finally, a state of stress is computed
from the preferred seismic fault plane set using the
non-linear simplex method already applied to fault
(Carey and Brunier, 1974; Carey, 1979). To take into
account the earthquake magnitude, each solution was
weighted, accounting to moment magnitude M w, or
m b when M~, was not available. Weighting was
defined as follows: 1 for 5 < M < 6, 2 for 6 < M < 7,
3 for 7 < M ~ 8 and 4 for 8 < M < 9 . In addition,
we have given systematically a weight of 1 to all
focal mechanisms having a poor double couple qual-
ity ( < 50%). In almost any case, these poor-quality
focal mechanisms have been eliminated during the
inversion process. From the 119 focal mechanisms,
20% of the solutions have been eliminated, such as
14/30 for area I, 9 / 2 8 for area II, 1/16 for area III,
3 / 1 5 for area IV, 2 / 9 for area V, 0 / 4 for area VI,
1 / 9 for area VII and 0 / 8 for area VIII. The majority
of the incompatible solutions has been eliminated in
subduction areas. In area I, all the eliminated focal
mechanisms represent the deformation within the
Nazca plate. For area II, nine focal mechanisms have
been eliminated during first inversion. Seven events
represent the extensional deformation of the margin
near the trench. Thus a separate inversion was per-
formed on this normal faulting subset (below).
5. Inversions results
Provided that the following conditions are ful-
filled, any inversion well constrained is representa-
tive of the global state of stess in the area we study:
(1) four distinct families of fault planes are required,
thus implying a minimum of four data; (2) according
to Bellier and Zoback (1995), the mean angular
deviation (EM) between the theoretical and calcu-
 F. Ego et al./ Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116 109

lated slip vector, has to be less than 20 ° and deter- Table 2

mines the quality of the fault plane selectioned. The Table of the mean deviatoric stress tensor for each area
standard deviation (ET) of the population of fault Site Nb trt(az/pl) oh(az/pl) o'3(az/pl) EM ET R
planes has to be greater than EM and E T / E M < 3 / 2 . Area I 16 282/10 191/08 065/77 9,98 12.84 0.68
This last condition determines the population homo- Area 1I 18 261/30 353/03 088/59 4.5 5.84 0.38
geneity by its scattering (see results in Table 2 and Area Ii NF 7 226/30 031/13 121/04 2.81 3.37 0.67
Area III 8 255/05 345/02 092/85 3.42 4.45 0.60
Fig. 3). Area III' 14 239/01 329/01 115/88 4.51 5.63 0.23
Areas I, II, II NF, III, III', IV, V, V', VII and VIII Area IV 12 325/02 230/65 056/25 4.81 6.43 0.64
fulfill these conditions. The deviatoric stress tensor Area V 7 256/04 161/49 350/41 2.32 3.45 0.88
and the R ratio thus obtained can be considered as Area V' 7 261/06 170/04 049/83 4.10 5.30 0.68
Area VI 4 080/09 324/69 173/19 0.14 0.18 0.73
reliable.
Area VII 8 099/10 191/07 317/78 3.38 3.82 0.54
For area VI, just a test has been performed due to Area VIII 8 074/O4 164/10 320/79 3.93 5.46 0.64
the few numbers of data (four) and the few different Quito 20 086/10 355/05 237/78 12.62 15.43 0.47
fault plane families (three). This test shows both the
good data homogeneity and the conformity of this EM is the mean angular deviation, calculated with the formula:
EM = ~('r,s)/N, ('r,s) being the angle between the theorical slip
area with those located south of 5°N.
vector and the slip vector of each nodal plane. ET is the standard
deviation vs. mean O, calculated by the formula: ET =
5.1. Subduction and forearc zones [~('r,s)2/N] ~/2 and N is the focal mechanisms number used for
the inversion. R=(o'2-o'1)/(o'3-o'1). In the site column,
Result from Area I gives evidence for a W N W - "NF" = normal focal mechanisms inversion for Area I1. Quito
site represents the inversion performed using structural data col-
trending compression, geodynamically controlled by
lected in the field.
the Caribbean-South American plate system. This
state of stress indicates a component of left-lateral
slip parallel to the N160°E-striking margin. More- the very small obliquity existing between the Nazca
over, during inversion, all the selected nodal planes and South American plates in this area. Besides,
that are parallel to this margin exhibit a slip vector some additional focal solutions that are available in
that shows a slight dextral to sinistral component Area III appear to be located within the Nazca slab.
related to the margin geometry (Fig. 3A). This obser- If we add them to the previous solutions of area III
vation confirms that the convergence is oblique across (stereonet Area III' in Fig. 3B), they tend to reorient
the P a n a m a - B a u d o Block. ~rI toward a more NE trend (N239°E, stereonet Area
Seismic data inversion in areas II and III clearly III'). Extensional focal mechanisms inversion in area
shows that their corresponding state of stress is II shows an extension trending N121°E (Table 2;
controlled by the interaction of the N a z c a - S o u t h Fig. 3B) normal to the margin. Each extensional
American plate system. In both areas, the compres- earthquake follows a great reverse seismic event and •

sional axis cr~ is nearly parallel to the N a z c a - S o u t h
American plate convergence orientation (Fig. 3A).
The selected nodal planes in area II mainly corre-
spond to the subduction plane. One of the major
result shows that all the slip vectors indicate a
right-lateral slip component on the subduction plane
(Fig. 3A). This oblique subduction slip indicates that
the oblique convergence in the Northern Andes is
not fully partitioned. This has an important conse-
quence on the amount of dextral motion to expect,
affecting the Andean Block. In area III, the compres-
sional stress trends N255°E (Table 2). All slip vec-
tors of selected nodal planes exhibit a quasi pure
reverse component (Fig. 3A) that is consistent with
can be considered as an aftershock produced during
a margin relaxation process.
5.2. The Andean Block
In area IV, inversion exhibits a major compres-
sive stress trending N325°E (Table 2). According to
the clockwise rotation of the compressional axis, it
seems that the effect of the Caribbean-South Ameri-
can plate system increases eastward in the continen-
tal domain. Moreover, this area is characterized by a
transcurrent deformation (~r2 vertical) with an exten-
sional stress trending N55°E. Consequently, in com-
parison with the western Area I, there is a stress
110 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116

o
oo~
~ ~"
o,o0
~ ~~
~
~< ~ ' ~
~
~

~~
~
,~
~: ~; © ~ Z

~
~ .~ . .. .~
~ .;~
~ -~
~
~ ~
~
~
~ ~-~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ~

~
~ ~
~ >
~'~
~ ~
,.

~
~
. .~ •
~:~,~
~ ,~
-~or-
~
,~~
~"

~ = ~ 0~ -r-r- ;~
~ . ~;~ ~
~
~ ~-~ ~
~
~e~ ~ ~ ~
; ~~

= ~;;s ~

~ ~
.~~
~
~
m-m ~ .~~
: ~ ' I ~ ~
~ ,~ ~
~ O~ .~
~
~ ~ ~
< :~=m~ = ~ .~
~~ ~ ~
~ - ~
~'~- ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~.~
~ ~
~ ~
'~ ~
~
I ~] ~1 ~1 st ~1 ~1 =1 ~1 ~1 ;r ~
~

N
~ o
~ ~ ~
~-~--
J o o
~ °~
©~6~
~~ ~

~ 6 . . ~
m ~ ~
~ ~

~ ~ ~~ - ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~
~ ~ ~
~~ ~
~ ~
~ ~~ ~~.~
~
~>
- ~ ~ ~

,,,,,,, ~~ ~
~
 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116 111

~) NF/LRE~ II AREA III'

R a p p o r t R 0.671 R~pport R 0.230
0"1 226. 76. - 0 . 8 2 ol 239. I. -0.56
02 31. 13. 0.17 02 329. I. -0.2,5
o'3 121. 4. 0.65 0"3 I15, 88. 0.80

N N

~~ ~ ~ .~
~-~L..~ ~~
2/~ ~_/_;~:::
----~--- )~
~- ~-~-~--'-~-,;k

l ~3
,%

('r. =)

10 (r. n)

AREA V QUITO
Rapport R 0.683 Rapport R 0.469
oi 261. 6. -0.79 o'I 66. I0. -0.72
02 170. 4. 0.17 0'2 355. 5. -0.03
¢3 49. 83. 0 . 6 2 ¢3 237. 78. 0.75

N N

, ~! ~
~o ~, ,~ ,,I ,,i ,~i ,,i
10 20 30 (r. ~)

Fig. 3 (continued).

permutation, 0"2 becoming vertical in the continent. and in northern Cauca-Patia and Romeral fault seg-
Such a state of stress and the associated transcurrent ments, near Medellin (Restrepo and Toussaint, 1987;
nature are consistent with field work performed to Toussaint and Restrepo, 1987; Scheidegger and
the east in Venezuela (Perez and Aggarwal, 1981) Schubert, 1989; MacDonald et al., 1993).
112 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116
Two states of stress were calculated in Area V.
The first one includes CMT focal solutions obtained
with Dziewonski's method. The second one includes
three new focal solutions (76', 77' and 78'), obtained
from events 76, 77 and 78, using an other method by
Kawakatsu and Proafio Cadena (1991). The former
inversion exhibits a N261°E-trending compression
and the latter inversion exhibits a N256°E-oriented
compression. Thus, CMT solutions determined by
Dziewonski et al. (1981) can be generally considered
reliable for shallow focal mechanism determination
and statistical study. Although these two inversions
are identical, the latter has been chosen because the
selected nodal planes are striking parallel to the
major Andean structures of this area. This state of
stress indicates dextral to reverse motions on struc-
tures parallel to the Andean chain. Indeed, several
right-lateral faults and N-S-oriented compressive
structures such as folds and fault systems have been
reported: west to east, the Cauca-Patia and Romeral
Fault System in central and southern Colombia, the
N-S-trending Quaternary folds in the Ecuadorian
Inter-Andean Valley, and the East Andean Front
Fault Zone composed in Ecuador by the Rio Chin-
gual-La Sofia Fault, the Baeza Transpressive zone
and the Pallatanga Fault (Fig. 1). Our results are
consistent with different field studies (Paris et al.,
1989, 1990; Ego, 1993; Ego et al., 1993; Sauret et
al., 1993; MacDonald et al., 1993; Winter et al.,
1993).
Moreover, an inversion performed on structural
data (Fig. 3B) collected from the Quito area in
Quaternary deposits yields a compressive stress
trending N86°E. This result is very similar to the
inversion performed on the focal mechanisms popu-
lation from Area V. This result is consistent with
compressional deformations associated with crustal-
scale restraining bend between 0 and 2°S (Fig. 1). As
cr~ trends not exactly but roughly parallel to the
convergence, the state of stress thus obtained indi-
cates that the Nazca-South American plate system
controls directly the Andean deformations.
5.3. Sub-Andean zones
Seismic activity with magnitude >_ 5 is not ob-
served east of Area V. This observation does not
indicate any seismic gap but that the recurrence time
of earthquakes with magnitude > 5 is longer than 30
years. In contrast, earthquakes with magnitude > 5
are observed south of the Andean Block in areas VII
and VIII, i.e., above the flat Nazca plate subduction
(Fig. 2). Inversions performed in areas VII and VIII
yield a roughly E-W-trending compression (Table 2)
that has nearly the same orientation as the Nazca-
South American plate convergence. The global state
of stress thus obtained by inversion process for the
Sub-Andean domain is consistent with the one in the
south calculated by Mercier et al. (1992) from struc-
tural data. In Area VI, the small number of earth-
quakes permits only to perform a compatibility test.
This test shows that the four local mechanism solu-
tions are consistent with a state of stress character-
ized by a roughly E-W-trending compression. In
addition, slip vectors on the selected nodal planes
indicate that substantial reverse to right-lateral slips
component occur along the East Andean Front Fault
Zone. This is consistent with the first-order model of
Meijer and Wortel (1992) that supposes the East
Andean Front Fault Zone unlikely to be a purely
transcurrent boundary.
Therefore, the analysis of Andean focal mecha-
nisms shows that most of the Andean Block is
submitted to E-W-trending compression. This state
of stress results from the interaction between the
Nazca and South American plates. A significantly
different state of stress, with NW-SE-trending com-
pression, only appears in the northernmost Colom-
bian Andes, i.e., in the Medellin area. It indicates
that active deformation in the northern part of the
Andean Block results from the interaction between
the Caribbean and South American plates.
6. Chingual-La Sofia Fault slip rate determina-
tion and Inter-Andean Valley shortening estimate
The state of stress that prevails in most of the
Andean Block confirms the fact that right-lateral
strike-slip motion occurs on faults that parallel the
Andes. Field observations allow to constrain the slip
rate of the major fault system that accommodates
this dextral motion: the Chingual-La Sofia Fault.
The Chingual-La Sofia Fault is located in the
Cordillera Oriental of northernmost Ecuador and
southernmost Colombia (Fig. 1). A precise mapping
 F. Ego et al./Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116
of the Chingual-La Sofia Fault has been performed
using both LANDSAT imagery and aerial photo
analysis. This mapping shows that numerous dextral
offsets are seen along the 70-km-long N35°E-striking
trace of the Chingual-La Sofia Fault in northermost
Ecuador. The Rio Chingual, a major river of the
Cordillera Oriental, exhibits a dextral offset ranging
from 7.5 to 10.5 km whereas minor streams show
offsets between 50 and 500 m. All these different
sized offsets allow us to conclude that the Chingual-
La Sofia Fault has been active in a dextral sense for
a long time ( > 1 Myr). The lack of precise informa-
tion on the age of the streams did not allow the use
of these offsets to estimate the Chingual-La Sofia
Fault slip rate. We determined the Chingual-La
Sofia Fault slip rate using the Soche lava flow with
its associated top pyroclastic flow dated at 37220 +
630 yr B.P. (see Appendix). This pyroclastic flow
was subsequently incised by river erosion and later,
was partly infilled by a lahar dated at 8600 _ 60 yr
B.P. (see Appendix). Since the pyroclastic flow ex-
hibits an offset ranging from 270 to 344 m and the
lahar exhibits an offset ranging from 36 to 64 m, two
"long-term" slip rates were defined as follow: 8 ___2
m m / y r for the older age and 6 + 2 m m / y r for the
younger one. The average "long-term" slip rate is
thus 7 + 3 ram/yr. In contrast, the N30°E-trending
Pallatanga Fault located east of the Guayaquil Gulf,
in the western border of the Cordillera Occidental
has a slip rate of 4 +__1 m m / y r (Winter et al., 1993).
The difference in slip rate between the Pallatanga
Fault and the Chingual-La Sofia Fault suggests a
northward increase in dextral slip rate, along the
Northern Andes. Assuming that the whole strike-slip
motion of the N30°E-striking Pallatanga Fault is
transmitted northward to the N-S-striking restraining
bend (Fig. 1), the order of the Inter-Andean Valley
shortening rate can be estimated. This simple geo-
metrical pattern yields an E-W-oriented shortening
of 2 _ 1 m m / y r . Conversely, if the whole 7 + 3
m m / y r slip rate of the Chingual-La Sofia Fault is
transferred southward to the restraining bend, its
shortening rate would be thus 4 + 2 m m / y r . This
calculation shows that there is roughly a difference
of 2 m m / y r of E-W-oriented shortening between
the northern and southern ending points of the
Ecuadorian restraining bend, which should be ac-
commodated by shortening on the Reventador re-
113
verse fault zone south of the Chingual-La Sofia
Fault.
7. Convergence obliquity variations and conse-
quences in the upper plate
The convergence obliquity between the Nazca and
South American plates increases between 2°S and
4°N. This obliquity varies from 30 ° in Ecuador,
between Guayaquil and Esmeraldas (2°S-I°N) to 50 °
in northernmost Ecuador-southern Colombia, be-
tween Esmeraldas and Buenaventura (1-4°N). On
the other hand, slip vectors on the subduction plane
of area II (Fig. 3A) are not normal to the trench,
implying an imperfect strain partitioning. In this
case, the subduction slip accommodates a significant
part of the strike-motion component. Using the
method of McCaffrey (1992) and taking into account
the 78 m m / y r convergence rate and the convergence
obliquities, there is 39 m m / y r of dextral slip parallel
to the trench to accommodate in Ecuador, while this
amounts to 60 m m / y r in northernmost Ecuador-
southern Colombia. In fact, the subduction slip is
actually oblique (see Fig. 1 and Area II on Fig. 2)
and consequently accommodates most of the trench-
parallel component of convergence. A simple calcu-
lation shows that the subduction slip accommodates
approximately 75-90% of the trench-parallel compo-
nent of convergence. The remaining 10-25% are
accommodated by the upper plate dextral faults, so
that the theoretical dextral slips are, respectively,
4 - 1 0 m m / y r in Ecuador and 6-13 m m / y r in north-
ernmost Ecuador-southern Colombia. This calcula-
tion shows that the Pallatanga Fault to the south and
the Chingual-La Sofia Fault to the north are accom-
modating most of the dextral slip that affects the
Andean upper plate.
8. Discussion
Whereas the East Andean Front Fault Zone and
its northward prolongation, the Bocono Fault, have a
dextral motion, from the Guayaquil Gulf to the
Caribbean Sea, due to a major interaction between
the Nazca and South American plates (Kellogg and
Bonini, 1982), motions are induced along the major
114 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116
faults within the Andean Block by the triple interac-
tion of the Nazca, South American and Caribbean
plates. In Area V, all the selected nodal planes that
are parallel to the Andean chain have a right-lateral
slip component, with dextral slip on planes that are
NNE-SSW oriented as the Pallatanga Fault, the
Chingual-La Sofia Fault and the Cauca-Patia and
Romeral Fault System (Fig. 1). In contrast, Area IV
shows that the selected nodal planes that are parallel
to the northernmost Colombian Andes (i.e., N - S
striking) exhibit left-lateral slip components. Thus,
major faults, in areas IV and V, that are parallel to
the Andes are dextral south of 5°N and sinistral north
of 5°N. This change in strike-slip motion, along the
major faults within the Andean Block, should be
accommodated by N-S-oriented shortening (i.e., by
E-W-trending folding in the Manizales area) a n d / o r
by N-S-oriented stretching (i.e., E-W-trending nor-
mal faulting in the Cordillera Central). Paleomag-
netic data (MacDonald et al., 1993) may be consis-
tent with N-S-oriented shortening in the Manizales
area. On the other hand, the state of stress calculated
in Area IV (i.e., NW-SE-oriented compression and
NE-SW-oriented extension) suggests that the An-
dean Block is escaping northeastward as suggested
by Pennington (1981). Consequently, the South
Caribbean Deformed Belt of Adamek et al. (1988)
should control this escape and, thus, has to be partly
considered as the free border of the Andean Block.
The shallow seismicity located within the Andes
decreases drastically south of the Andean Block,
where shallow epicenters are restricted to two seis-
mic belts: the Andean forearc to the west, and the
Sub-Andes to the east. Moreover, the "Altiplano
Puna" plateau appears nearly aseismic (Jordan et al.,
1983). This striking difference between the Northern
and Central Andes should result from a marked
difference in convergence obliquity. Indeed, conver-
gence orientation and rate do not vary significantly
along the Andean margin, whereas obliquity does
vary according to the strike of the Andean margin
(Dewey and Lamb, 1992). The higher obliquity is
observed in the Northern Andes where shallow seis-
micity occurs within the Andean Cordillera. Interest-
ingly, where shallow seismicity occurs within the
Andes, the Sub-Andes appear relatively less seismi-
cally active. This suggests that where the conver-
gence obliquity is higher, i.e., within the Northern
Andes, Andean deformations are characterized by
more strike-slip faulting and less shortening. Con-
versely, in the Central Andes, where convergence
obliquity is lower than in the Northern Andes, short-
ening is dominant over strike-slip faulting. The fact
that most of the Andean shortening is located in the
back-arc region, i.e., the Sub-Andes, explains the
contrasted distribution of shallow epicenters ob-
served between the Central and Northern Andes.
Finally, the buoyancy forces induced by the Carnegie
ridge or more generally by the younger age of the
oceanic lithosphere that subducts presently in the
Ecuador-Colombian trench, will obviously increase
the mechanical coupling between the Nazca and
South American plates in the Northern Andes. How-
ever, these buoyancy forces are not the primary
cause of the striking difference between northern and
Central Andes. Moreover, the subduction of the
Nazca ridge does not significantly modify the state
of stress of the Central Andes and cannot be consid-
ered as an indenter (Srbrier et al., 1988).
9. Conclusion
The Andean Block state of stress is controlled by
the Nazca-Caribbean-South American plate system
and consequently, the Andean Block can be defined
as a large triple-junction zone under constriction.
However, the Andean Block state of stress is mostly
homogeneous and characterized by E-W-trending
compression and varies northward with a clockwise
rotation of 30 °. This indicates that the deformation of
this triple-junction zone is mainly controlled by the
interaction between the Nazca and South American
plates. The whole area of the Northern Andes south
of 5°N is submitted to a homogeneous E-W-trending
compressive state of stress. According to this state of
stress, dextral motions occur on the major faults (The
Chingual-La Sofia Fault and the Pallatanga Fault)
parallel to the chain. The compressional deformation
between the Chingual-La Sofia Fault and the Palla-
tanga Fault corresponds to crustal-scale restraining
bend. North of 5°N, the Andean Block state of stress
is characterized by NW-SE-trending compression
that results chiefly from the interaction of the
Caribbean and South American plates.
Finally, the convergence obliquity seems to be a
 F. Ego et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 101-116
determining factor for the location of active deforma-
tion in the Andes. Where the obliquity is low, upper
plate deformation is restricted to the Sub-Andean
back arc. Where the obliquity is high, active defor-
mation occurs within the Andes, and comparatively,
the back arc appears less active.
Acknowledgements
Field study has been possible thanks to the sup-
port of the Institut Fran~ais d'i~tude Andines, French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CIFEG and
ORSTOM-ECUADOR. We thank W.D. Penning-
ton, H.G. Ave Lallement and an anonymous re-
viewer for their helpful critical reviews.
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