The new seismicity card? in Italy, recently published by INGV, reports the location of over 50.000 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 1.6, which occurred on our national territory from 2000 to 2012. In these 13 years Italy? been hit by numerous major earthquakes in addition to the three dramatic events of San Giuliano di Puglia in 2002, Abruzzo in 2009 and Emilia Romagna in 2012. No earthquake, however, in this period had a Richter magnitude greater than 6.0; therefore this represents one of the most? lengths of the seismic history of our country without a major earthquake. The last one ? the one that took place on November 23, 1980 in Irpinia and Basilicata.
The map shows that earthquakes occur mainly in the upper crust, at depths less than 15 km.
In the Northern Apennines and in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, on the other hand, earthquakes are also observed at great depths, up to 600 km, which highlight important geodynamic processes in progress such as that of the subduction of the Ionian lithosphere below Calabria.
The map is completed by two thematic inserts. The first represents the distribution of strong earthquakes that have occurred since the year 1000, deduced from the analysis of the substantial historical documentation of our country, which has made it possible to create one of the most? important seismic catalogs in the world. The second map, obtained from GPS data, represents the speed? to which Italy moves today, compared to stable Europe. Due to the very strong thrusts of the tectonic plates, the crust is deformed and the maximum values of deformation coincide with the seismic areas of our country.
? It is possible to interactively consult the earthquakes that make up the map at the following link http://bit.ly/12fBM4g where can the pdf version can also be downloaded.
For information and registration:
Maurice Pignone,
http://terremoti.ingv.it