Velocity model section (Vp above and Vp/Vs below) through the fault system that generated the Amatrice and Norcia earthquakes in 2016. The hypocenter of the October 30, 2016 earthquake is represented with the yellow star, while black dots indicate the numerous aftershocks that have followed one another for more than a year. Note the extreme heterogeneity of the medium and the presence of high-velocity bodies with a high Vp/Vs ratio along the main fault (Chiarabba et al., 2018).
The characterization of Italian seismicity is an essential research topic for understanding the seismogenic processes that occur in Italy, both at a regional and local scale, with important application implications for seismic hazard studies. The spatio-temporal description of seismicity is mainly based on instrumental and historical-macroseismic seismology research, and on multidisciplinary analysis techniques such as archeoseismology and paleoseismology which allow, in certain cases, to further extend the seismic catalog back in time .
This topic makes use of the large infrastructures of INGV, in particular: for the instrumental seismology part, the national seismic network with its regional sub-networks and temporary mobile networks; for the historical part, the macroseismic databases and related documentary archives.