Also in 2020 the average of 45 earthquakes per day located by the Institute's 24-hour Surveillance Rooms is confirmed: about 1 every 30 minutes.
In the "Speciale 2020" of the INGV Terremoti Blog, you can "navigate" between seismic events with interactive maps, story maps and infographics.
During 2020, the National Seismic Network of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) located 16.597 earthquakes in Italy and in the surrounding areas. An average of about 45 earthquakes per day with an interval of one event about every half hour.
“The map we made this year shows that even in 2020 the strongest earthquakes were located outside the Italian territory. Seismic events of magnitude equal to or greater than 5.0 occurred in Albania, Algeria and Croatia, during the seismic sequence of the end of December with the strong earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.3 of December 29, near the city of Petrinja”, says Alessandro Amato, INGV seismologist, who underlines “The number of earthquakes located in Italy in 2020 is very similar to that of 2019, a lower number if you compare it with the earthquakes of 2016 and 2017 characterized by the seismic sequence in Central Italy, which began on August 24, 2016".
The first earthquake of 2020 occurred on 1 January 2020 in Sefro (MC) just one and a half minutes after the stroke of midnight and the last, however, on 31 December 2020 at 23:41 in Ragalna (CT), both with a magnitude of less than 2.0.
As always, however, Sardinia is confirmed as the region with the lowest number of earthquakes. Also counting the marine areas around the island, only 366 were recorded in the 2020 days of 4.
"Almost 90% of the earthquakes located in Italy in 2020 had a magnitude of less than 2.0 and were probably not felt by the population, with some exceptions in the case of very superficial hypocentres and near inhabited areas, such as those that occurred in volcanic areas of Campania”, explains Maurizio Pignone, geologist of INGV, who continues “Most earthquakes are linked to seismic sequences, which occurred in Italy in 2020. Others, however, are considered "isolated" events such as, for example, the earthquake in Milan on December 17 with a magnitude of 3.8".
The earthquakes that dotted 2020 are "navigable" with the interactive map and with a story map created by the INGV Terremoti Team.
"With this application we have classified earthquakes with a magnitude greater than or equal to 1.5. Visitors can see the related hypocentral parameters for each event” highlights Maurizio Pignone, who continues “Furthermore, with the infographics we wanted to make available to the public a tool that is as clear as possible, since all the earthquakes can be viewed even for individual areas freely chosen by the user, with the maximum magnitude and their distribution over the 12 months of the year".
"The graphic representation of the seismic events that occurred in Italy is a fundamental tool that INGV makes available to citizens and the scientific community to increase awareness of the fragility of our territories throughout the peninsula, as well as to provide a research tool to scholars from all over the world. Despite the serious health crisis, the seismic surveillance carried out by INGV in 2020 did not stop even for a second. Information is an activity that the Institute constantly pursues with research and monitoring dissemination actions and which, as far as earthquakes are concerned, are also reflected in the initiatives promoted on the occasion of the Seismic Literacy Day in January of every year: the Earth is a living planet, Italy will always continue to have earthquakes and we must invest in their greater knowledge to better defend ourselves in the future”, concludes Prof. Carlo Doglioni, President of INGV.
Link to the INGVterremoti Blog
Link to INGVterremoti story maps
Link to the interactive map of the 2020 earthquakes
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INGV special, the earthquakes of 2020 in Italy
Also in 2020 an average of 45 earthquakes per day has been located by the Institute's 24-hour operational surveillance rooms: about 1 every 30 minutes.
In the "Special 2020" of the INGVterremoti Blog, you can "navigate" among the seismic events with interactive maps, story maps and infographics.
During 2020, the National Seismic Network of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) located 16,597 earthquakes on the Italian territory and in the surrounding areas. An average of about 45 earthquakes per day with an average interval of one event every half hour.
"The map we made this year shows that in 2020 the strongest earthquakes were located outside the Italian territory. The seismic events with magnitude equal to or greater than 5.0 have occurred in Albania, Algeria, and Croatia during the seismic sequence at the end of the year with the strong earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.3 on December 29, near the city of Petrinja ", says Alessandro Amato, INGV seismologist, who underlines "The number of earthquakes located in Italy in 2020 is very similar to that of 2019, a lower number when compared with 2016 and 2017, characterized by the long seismic sequence in Central Italy, which began on August 24, 2016".
The first earthquake of 2020 occurred on January 1st, 2020 in Sefro (MC) only one minute and 24 seconds after the stroke of midnight and the last, on the other hand, on December 31st, 2020 at 23:41 in Ragalna (CT) , both with a magnitude of less than 2.0.
As always, Sardinia is confirmed as the region with the lowest number of earthquakes. Also counting the marine areas around the island, in the 366 days of 2020 only 4 were recorded.
"Almost 90% of the earthquakes located in Italy in 2020 had a magnitude lower than 2.0 and, probably, they were not felt by the population, with some exceptions in the case of very shallow hypocenters and epicenters near inhabited areas, such as those that occurred in the volcanoes in Campania", explains Maurizio Pignone, INGV geologist, who continues "Most earthquakes are linked to seismic sequences, which occurred in Italy in 2020. Others, however, are considered "isolated" shocks, as for example the earthquake in Milan of December 17, of magnitude 3.8".
The earthquakes that have marked 2020 are "navigable" with an interactive map and with a story map created by the INGV Terremoti Team.
"With this application we have selected earthquakes with magnitude greater than or equal to 1.5. Visitors can see the hypocentral parameters for each event" underlines Maurizio Pignone, who continues "Furthermore, with the infographics we wanted to offer the public a tool as friendly as possible, since all earthquakes can also be viewed for specific areas freely chosen by the user, with the maximum magnitude and their distribution over the 12 months of the year".
"The geographic representation of the seismic events that occurred in Italy is a fundamental tool that the INGV makes available to citizens and the scientific community to increase awareness of the fragility of our territories throughout the peninsula, as well as providing a research tool for scholars from all over the world. Despite the serious health crisis, the seismic surveillance carried out by the INGV in 2020 did not stop for even a second. Information is an activity that the Institute constantly pursues with the dissemination of research and monitoring and which, as regards earthquakes, are also reflected in the initiatives promoted on the occasion of the Day of Seismic Literacy, scheduled every year in January: the Earth is a living planet, Italy will always continue to have earthquakes and we must invest in their greater knowledge to better defend ourselves in the future ", concludes Prof. Carlo Doglioni, President of INGV.
INGVterremoti blog
Story map of INGVterremoti
Link to the interactive map of 2020 earthquakes