The theory of plate tectonics explains well how earthquakes occur at the boundaries between rigid tectonic plates. However, the generation of earthquakes in plates’ interiors and in diffuse plate boundaries remains poorly understood. These earthquakes can reach high magnitudes and pose significant risk to populations. Fundamental questions concerning the occurrence of earthquakes in intraplate and diffuse plate boundary regions include: A) Which faults take up deformation in regions of slow deformation? How can they be identified and characterized? B) How much does each fault contribute to plate deformation, and in what regime? C) What is the role of fault interaction? How can the time-space variability of earthquakes in these regions be characterized?

The advent of high-density geophysical networks and of unprecedented computational power has the potential to open new windows into the study of earthquakes in regions of slow lithospheric deformation. In this session we welcome presentations that contribute to improving our understanding of the topic. In particular, we welcome theoretical, observational, and numerical contributions from different disciplines, including seismology, geodesy, structural geology, paleoseismology and geodynamics.