Central Europe tectonic hiatus 2015–2019

Long-term extensometric monitoring across Central Europe reveals a pronounced tectonic hiatus between 2015 and 2019. Using high-resolution data from the EU TecNet network of optical – mechanical TM-71 and TM-72 extensometers installed along major fault zones, we document a widespread attenuation or cessation of fault-related micro-displacements that coincided with a marked decrease in regional seismicity. The hiatus was most prominent in the Western Carpathians, where fault movements were arrested at nearly half of the monitored sites, preferentially affecting major NNE – SSW-striking fault systems that represent the principal structural grain of the region. Despite the overall quiescence, extensional fault opening developed at several sites since 2015, followed by significant vertical subsidence recorded across much of the Western Carpathians in 2018. Similar patterns of tectonic quiescence were observed in the Bohemian Massif, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, indicating that the phenomenon extended over large parts of Central and Southeastern Europe. The temporal evolution of deformation and its correspondence with seismicity suggest that the 2015–2019 hiatus reflects a transient regional-scale reorganisation of the stress field, likely linked to variations in plate-boundary forcing, rather than a response to climatic effects or local processes.