A catalogue of non-tectonic earthquakes in central-eastern Italy

Abstract

Quarry explosions and other non-tectonic signals can contaminate seismic catalogues, especially in areas where dense seismic networks allow to detect even low energy events. This paper presents the algorithm adopted for the discrimination of non-tectonic earthquakes in central-eastern Italy, an area with a high rate of events of this kind (4500 were recorded in the 1996-2012 period). Starting from an empirical classification based on the analysis of areas in which the ratio between daytime and nighttime events is strongly anomalous, a waveform similarity approach allows to simplify the procedure of detection making the final classification more robust. The resulting catalogue of non-tectonic earthquakes (quarry blasts and other anomalous signals) is a useful tool for anyone wanting to carry out a careful analysis of the tectonic seismicity of central-eastern Italy.