Publication Date:
2017-04-04
Description:
Two earthquakes (both having Mw 5.7) struck the eastern portion of Molise on October
31 and November 1, 2002. Both caused severe damage over a 2000 km2 region
straddling Molise and Puglia. The two larger shocks and the rather unusual aftershock
sequence surprised most Italian seismologists and tectonicists. Although Italy has a good
record of historical and instrumental seismicity and its main seismogenic trends are
quite established, the epicentral location, depth and kinematics of this earthquake sequence
were largely unexpected. In fact, the 2002 Molise earthquakes shed light on a
previously unsuspected style of seismogenic faulting in this region. From the seismotectonic
perspective, much of the significance of the two quakes arises from the possibility
that this style of faulting might be shared by several much larger quakes that took place
on the Adriatic side of the southern Apennines.
In the first part of this paper we briefly describe the main seismological characteristics
of the sequence. These were largely derived from the analysis of data supplied by
permanent networks and from a preliminary analysis of data recorded by a portable network
deployed a few hours after the first shock. In the second part of the paper we discuss
the seismotectonic characteristics of the sequence in the framework of Italian tectonics
and the implications for future earthquakes in the same region.
Description:
Published
Description:
S23-S37
Description:
reserved
Keywords:
Earthquake
;
Molise 2002
;
Seismology
;
Tectonic
;
04. Solid Earth::04.06. Seismology::04.06.04. Ground motion
;
04. Solid Earth::04.07. Tectonophysics::04.07.07. Tectonics
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
Format:
1422638 bytes
Format:
application/pdf
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