Seismic Hazard Assessment: Campotosto, Italy
Boulder, Colo., USA: Between 1997 and 2017, central Italy was struck by
several seismic sequences that cumulatively claimed more than 600 victims,
besides producing widespread destruction in historical towns and damage to
vital infrastructures. Based on the integration of geological and
seismological datasets, this new study published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin provides a 4D,
high-resolution image of a crustal volume hosting an active linkage zone
between two major seismogenic faults.
This, in turn, furnishes new insights into the behavior of interacting
faults in the incipient stages of connection. In fact, this study proposes
an innovative interpretation for a key area—that of Campotosto—believed to
represent a seismic gap located between the seismogenic fault responsible
for the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake (of magnitude 6.3) and that activated
during the 2016 Amatrice-Visso-Norcia earthquakes (of maximum magnitude
6.5).
The Campotosto area is characterized at the surface by a major geological
structure; i.e. the Mount Gorzano fault. Mainly due to its geomorphological
expression, this fault has been considered as an active and silent
structure—able to generate an earthquake of maximum magnitude of 6.5–7.0.
However, the geological evidence provided by this study indicates that this
fault accumulated most of its displacement between about seven million and
five million years ago, and it does not represent a direct surface
expression of a major seismogenic fault.
The results of this study bear major implications for seismic hazard
assessment in the study area, also taking into account that the issue of
temporarily “silent” seismogenic sources are receiving much attention in
the earthquake faulting debate following the deadly 2016 earthquakes in
central Italy.
The Campotosto linkage fault zone between the 2009 and 2016 seismic
sequences of central Italy: Implications for seismic hazard analysis
Emanuele Tondi; Danica Jablonská; Tiziano Volatili; Maddalena Michele;
Stefano Mazzoli; Pietro Paolo Pierantoni
Contact: Pietro Pierantoni, pietropaolo.pierantoni@unicam.it, University of
Camerino, Geology Division, School of Sciences and Technology, Camerino,
Italy
Paper URL:
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article/doi/10.1130/B35788.1/593265/The-Campotosto-linkage-fault-zone-between-the-2009
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