Seismic response to stress-strain fields in the lithosphere of Sicily

Earthquake locations and fault-plane solutions are investigated in Sicily and the surrounding areas, by using local network data for the period 1988-1995, and a recently proposed 3D model of the local crustal structure. The results were used for local-to-regional scale stress inversion and strain tensor computations, after integration by a set of selected focal mechanisms taken from the literature. The area under study appears to be affected by heterogeneity of seismic deformation and the stress field. The contraction-to-extension transition from west to east on a regional scale can find a reasonable explanation in the framework of current geodynamic models, such as those assuming the activity of two main tectonic sources in the South Italy region, e.g., the Africa-Europe north-south slow convergence and the faster eastward roll-back of a westward-dipping Ionian subducting slab (Cinque al., 1993). The analysis of low-magnitude (2.5-4.0) earthquakes permitted us to perform an investigation of local-scale strain heterogeneities in this region and to evidence notable changes in the deformation style when processes at different scales are considered.