The results of a consistent and versatile study of the seismotectonics of source zones of strong modern earthquakes in the Caucasus under the guidance and with the participation of E.A. Rogozhin. The sources of all strong modern earthquakes have been studied from a unified methodological standpoint. The collected data on the tectonic position of seismic sources make it possible to draw certain conclusions that are of practical interest in order to seismic hazard assessment.

The results of paleoseismological, archeological, and dendrochronological studies and published materials have yielded the date of neotectonic Utrish seismic dislocations, one of the key components in seismic hazard studies of the Western Caucasus. According to previously obtained and newly acquired data, a destructive earthquake occurred here in the 12th–13th centuries. Based on seismotectonic fault data, the lower limit of its magnitude MW ≈ 6.9. The source is located in the Utrish Fault zone, along the coast of the Abrau Peninsula. The seismogenic role of this fault is established over the aggregate data.

Analysis of GPS-measurements made for the first time along the geodesic profile crossing all the main geological structures in the Ossetian region of the Greater Caucasus showed that significant jumps in the velocity of horizontal movements are observed in zones where strong earthquakes recently occurred. Interpretation of the measurement data is performed in comparison with the results of neotectonic and seismotectonic studies and data on deep structure of the region. The maximum decrease in the current transverse shortening rates is recorded in the zones of the Vladikavkaz and Kakheti–Lechkhum faults. The zone of the Vladikavkaz Fault hosted the source of the Khataldon earthquake of May 11, 2008, M = 4.5, I = 4 in the epicentral zone. Epicentral zones of earthquakes such as the 1991 Racha with М = 7.0, 1991 Dzhava with М = 6.2, Oni-I of February 6, 2006 with М = 5.0, and Oni-II of September 7, 2009 with М = 6.0 involved the upper crustal blocks within the limits of the Kakheti–Lechkhum suture zone at the base of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus. The previously predicted significant decrease in the rate of horizontal movements after seismic activations in these areas of catastrophic seismic events of 1991, 2006, and 2009 on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus is confirmed.

The permanent analysis of the hydrogeodeformation (HGD) field is one promising direction in the field of predicting strong earthquakes. As a result of long-term monitoring of the HGD field, it has been found that the underground hydrosphere contains extensive information about changes in geodynamic stresses and the evolution of deformation processes in the Earth’s crust. The development of short-term earthquake prediction methods has been preceded by long-term studies aimed at improving the HGD field monitoring. This paper presents examples of successful predictions of the place, time, and magnitude for a number of strong earthquakes. The examples are obtained based on a complex analysis of the variations in the HGD field. Proposals on the use of these methods for short-term prediction of strong seismic events in the near-real-time mode are formulated.

Large-scale ancient seismic dislocations represented by faults, landslides, and rock-avalanches were discovered by remote sensing on the southeastern slope of the Andian Ridge in Dagestan. As a result of the strongest of these land- and rock-slides, dammed Lake Kezenoy-Am was formed. Essential structural features of the ruptures provide undoubted evidence of the seismotectonic origin of the latter. The kinematics of the ruptures (left-lateral strike-slip and thrust) is in conformity with geological data on neotectonic displacements in the Andian deep-seated fault zone. The acquired data allow considering this deep fault to be a major seismogenic structure and confirm the presence of a potential earthquake focus with M-max = 7.0 disclosed previously in the Andian fault zone.