On the origin of micro-earthquakes in geothermal areas (OMEGA): first results from a seismic experiment at Mt. Amiata (Italy)

Abstract

In a joint project called OMEGA, between GFZ-Potsdam and the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), an experimental seismic monitoring system was installed in 2015 near the power plants of the geothermal area of Mt. Amiata (central Italy). The main objectives of this three-year experiment are: i) to monitor the seismic activity connected to any type of seismicity inside the geothermal field, ii) to verify if the low local seismicity rate near Mt. Amiata reported by the INGV bulletin is natural, or due to the sparse distribution of the INGV network, and iii) to discriminate natural from possibly induced seismicity. The eight-station network was extended by a sevenelement seismic array for the first four weeks. The aim of this paper is to present the first automatic hypocentre locations of the joint network/array analysis.