IPGP post-seismic interventions in Italy following the Amatrice and Norcia earthquakes
On October 30th, 2016, central Italy was shaken by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the Norcia region, a few kilometers north of the epicenter of the magnitude 6.0 Amatrice earthquake of August 24th. This earthquake is one of the strongest reported in Europe in recent decades.
Publication date: 06/12/2016
Press, Research
Related teams :
Tectonics and Mechanics of the Lithosphere
Related themes : Natural Hazards
As part of two nationwide post-seismic interventions involving several laboratories (CEREGE, IPGP, EOST, LIVE, Géosciences Montpellier and GéoAzur), the ‘Tectonics and Mechanics of the Lithosphere’ team from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris went into the field in September following the Amatrice earthquake, and again in November following the Norcia earthquake. These missions made it possible to systematically collect high-resolution topography and imaging data along the seismic rupture (Faro scanner, LiDAR Riegl, photogrammetry), making it possible to map the rupture and deduce information on the kinematics of these faults, their seismic cycle and their mechanical behaviour.
The Norcia earthquake ruptured the same system of normal faults as the one in Amatrice two months earlier. These faults are the result of the Quaternary extension of the Apennine chain, linked to the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. The coseismic rupture generated by this earthquake is around fifteen kilometres long. The largest shifts (1 to 2 metres) were measured along the Monte-Vettore fault, which shows a very clear morphological trace in the landscape (see photo opposite).
The observations and measurements made by the researchers in the post-seismic intervention group will document with unprecedented precision the spatio-temporal evolution of a fault plane during an earthquake, and will make it possible to understand the link between coseismic displacement and the formation of topographical reliefs associated with active faults. There is currently very little precise information on coseismic ruptures along normal faults around the world.
