Central Apennines and its earthquakes: from sedimentology and active tectonics to seismic microzonation studies

Rome, Italy

The Central Apennines represents a wonderful record of a
still active complex stratigraphic and structural history, as
testified by recent earthquakes (L'Aquila 2009, Mw 6.1;
Amatrice-Norcia 2016, Mw 6.5). Normal faults activity
contributed to the formation of tectonic basins that
hosted continental deposits, which recorded the long term
traces at surface of large earthquakes. Moreover
local seismic amplification has been observed, as result of
peculiar geological and structural conditions.
The field trip will illustrate examples of earthquake-induced
effects due to the recent seismic sequence, in
relation to the local stratigraphic and structural setting.
The main steps of the geological evolution of Central
Apennines, from Jurassic up to the Present, will be
investigated which will help define contrasting responses
to earthquakes between the cover terrains and the
seismic bedrock. Evidences for regional uplift and active
faulting, which interplayed with Quaternary climatic
changes to feed the mountain chain into its present shape
will be illustrated.
The effects of recent earthquakes on towns and villages
will be described considering the contributon of
sediments characterization and the results of the recent
advanced seismic microzonation studies.