We provide a database of the coseismic geological surface effects following the Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake that hit central Italy on 30 October 2016. This was one of the strongest seismic events to occur in Europe in the past thirty years, causing complex surface ruptures over an area of >400 km2. The database originated from the collaboration of several European teams (Open EMERGEO Working Group; about 130 researchers) coordinated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. The observations were collected by performing detailed field surveys in the epicentral region in order to describe the geometry and kinematics of surface faulting, and subsequently of landslides and other secondary coseismic effects. The resulting database consists of homogeneous georeferenced records identifying 7323 observation points, each of which contains 18 numeric and string fields of relevant information. This database will impact future earthquake studies focused on modelling of the seismic processes in active extensional settings, updating probabilistic estimates of slip distribution, and assessing the hazard of surface faulting.
The main objective of this paper was to introduce the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale (ESI), a new scale\ud developed and tested by an interdisciplinary group of scientists (geologists, geophysicists and seismologists) in the frame of the\ud International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) activities, to the widest community of earth scientists and engineers dealing\ud with seismic hazard assessment. This scale defines earthquake intensity by taking into consideration the occurrence, size and areal\ud distribution of earthquake environmental effects (EEE), including surface faulting, tectonic uplift and subsidence, landslides, rock\ud falls, liquefaction, ground collapse and tsunami waves. Indeed, EEEs can significantly improve the evaluation of seismic intensity,\ud which still remains a critical parameter for a realistic seismic hazard assessment, allowing to compare historical and modern\ud earthquakes. Moreover, as shown by recent moderate to large earthquakes, geological effects often cause severe damage’’;\ud therefore, their consideration in the earthquake risk scenario is crucial for all stakeholders, especially urban planners, geotechnical\ud and structural engineers, hazard analysts, civil protection agencies and insurance companies. The paper describes background and\ud construction principles of the scale and presents some case studies in different continents and tectonic settings to illustrate its relevant\ud benefits. ESI is normally used together with traditional intensity scales, which, unfortunately, tend to saturate in the highest degrees.\ud In this case and in unpopulated areas, ESI offers a unique way for assessing a reliable earthquake intensity. Finally, yet importantly,\ud the ESI scale also provides a very convenient guideline for the survey of EEEs in earthquake-stricken areas, ensuring they are\ud catalogued in a complete and homogeneous manner
This study is focused on wide-area deformation monitoring initiatives based on the differential interferometric SAR technique (DInSAR). In particular, it addresses the use of advanced DInSAR (A-DInSAR) techniques, which are based on large sets of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Copernicus Sentinel-1 images. Such techniques have undergone a dramatic development in the last twenty years: they are now capable to process big sets of SAR images and can be exploited to realize a wide-area A-DInSAR monitoring. The study describes several initiatives to establish wide-area ground motion services (GMS), both at county- and region-level. In the second part of the study, some of the key technical aspects related to wide-area A-DInSAR monitoring are discussed. Finally, the last part of the study is devoted to the European ground motion service (EGMS), which is part of the Copernicus land monitoring service. It represents the most important wide-area A-DInSAR deformation monitoring system ever developed. The study describes its main characteristics and its main products. The end of the production of the first EGMS baseline product is foreseen for the last quarter of 2021.
, a moderate earthquake (M w = 6.3; M l = 5.8) struck the Abruzzo region in central Italy, causing more than 300 fatalities and heavy damage to L'Aquila and surrounding villages. Coseismic surface effects have been thoroughly documented by timely field surveys as well as by remote sensing analyses of satellite images. The outstanding quality of geological, seismological, geodetic, and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) information arguably represents the best ever data set made available immediately after a moderate seismic event. Based on this data set, we aim at testing the capability of coupled geological and InSAR data to map surface faulting patterns associated with moderate earthquakes. Coseismic ground ruptures have been mapped at a scale of 1:500 in the whole epicentral area. Traces of surface ruptures have been inferred from linear phase discontinuities identified in the interferogram. A very good agreement between the two methods resulted in the characterization of the main surface rupture along the Paganica fault. The same approach applied to ground ruptures hypothesized along other capable fault segments provided more questionable results. Thus, the combined field and InSAR approach appeared useful for detecting continuous surface ruptures exceeding 1 km in length and showing displacements greater than a few centimeters. These are the typical faulting parameters for moderate earthquakes (6.0 < M w < 6.5) in central Apennines. For continuous ground cracks shorter than a few hundred meters and/or that show displacements smaller than 1-2 cm, the described approach may be less helpful, most probably due to the limited resolution of the data.Citation: Guerrieri, L., et al. (2010), InSAR data as a field guide for mapping minor earthquake surface ruptures: Ground displacements along the Paganica Fault during the 6
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