Publication Date:
2017-04-04
Description:
In the summer of 1561, a strong seismic sequence struck southern Italy, then the Spanish-ruled
Kingdom of Naples. Both the Italian seismological tradition and the latest catalogues locate it in
the Vallo di Diano (Diano Valley), a low-seismicity intermontane basin 100 km south-east of
Naples. We explore the hypothesis that current perception of the 1561 earthquake is distorted by
the nature of the historical dataset from which its parameters have been assessed, and which mostly
derive from a single—albeit very detailed—primary source. We present and discuss several previously
unconsidered original accounts. Our results cast doubts on the traditional interpretation of
the earthquake, which could have been either one Vallo di Diano mainshock or several strong
earthquakes within a time/space window compact enough for contemporary viewers to perceive
them as one. Unquestionably, there is much more to the 1561 earthquake(s) than previously
appeared. We hope that this groundbreaking effort will rekindle the interest of the seismological
community in this seismic episode, our knowledge of which is still far from complete.
Description:
Published
Description:
1054-1077
Description:
5.1. TTC - Banche dati e metodi macrosismici
Description:
JCR Journal
Description:
reserved
Keywords:
Hitorical Seismicity
;
1561 Earthquakes
;
Active Faults
;
Seismotectonics
;
04. Solid Earth::04.06. Seismology::04.06.05. Historical seismology
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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