Africa is a poorly known continent in terms of the current seismotectonic activity, crustal deformation, and their geodynamic causes. The North Africa thrust and fold belt and the East African Rift system are the most obvious areas of ongoing tectonic deformation experiencing large earthquakes, but other regions like the Cameroon Volcanic Line in West Africa, the Congo Basin in Central Africa and the Southern African plateau are also seismically active. Knowledge on the seismicity, focal mechanisms, active faults, tectono-magmatic interactions, geodetic and paleoseismic strain rates are necessary for a proper assessment of related natural hazards.

This session sponsored by the IGCP-UNESCO project-601 welcomes contributions on the observation, analysis and modelling of all the above issues, as well as on the deep structure of the African continent and the driving mechanisms of the seismotectonic processes.