Instrumental seismic catalogue of Mt. Etna earthquakes (Sicily, Italy): ten years (2000-2010) of instrumental recordings

Abstract

<p>Instrumental seismic catalogues are an essential tool for the zonation of the territory and the production of seismic hazard maps. They are also a valuable instrument for detailed seismological studies regarding active volcanoes and, above all, for interpreting the magma dynamics and the evolution of eruptive phenomena. In this paper, we show the first instrumental earthquake catalogue of Mt. Etna, for the period 2000-2010, with the purpose of producing a homogeneous dataset of 10 years of seismological observations. During this period, 16,845 earthquakes have been recorded by the seismic network run by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica and Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, in Catania. A total of 6,330 events, corresponding to approximately 40% of all earthquakes recorded, were located by using a one-dimensional VP velocity model. The magnitude completeness of the catalogue is equal to about 1.5 for the whole period, except for some short periods in 2001 and 2002-2003 and at the end of 2009. The reliability of the data collected is supported by the good values of the main hypocentral parameters through the time. The spatial distribution of seismicity allowed the highlighting of several seismogenetic areas characterized by different seismic rates and focal depths. This seismic catalogue represents a fundamental tool for several research aiming to a better understanding of the behavior of an active volcano such as Mt. Etna.</p><div> </div>

Mt. Etna Feeding System and Sliding Flank: A New 3D Image From Earthquakes Distribution in a Customisable GIS

“…Etna, in the framework of the VolGIS. The first ten years of data are described and analyzed by Alparone et al (2015). We added six years of location data (from 2010 to 2016), which were provided by the Gruppo Analisi Dati Sismici (2017).…”

“…Etna is one of the most hazardous and monitored volcanoes in the world due to both its persistent eruptive activity and its proximity to highly-urbanized areas. The volcano is monitored by permanent and mobile networks and produces dense seismicity related to eruptive events and volcanic unrests (Alparone et al, 2015;Gruppo Analisi Dati Sismici, 2017). This seismicity has been used for decades to image shape, dimension and location of the volcano feeding systems with seismic tomography.…”

“…As of today, the MC algorithm has never been applied directly to seismic data and metadata, like earthquake locations, for the purpose of interpretation. With their uncertainties (hundreds of meters), the earthquake locations available from INGV across 16 years (Alparone et al, 2015;Gruppo Analisi Dati Sismici, 2017) can be used as the scalar field in the MC algorithm, at a resolution unavailable to tomography. The resulting isosurfaces will envelope volumes of seismic clustering and contour aseismic zones, whose discussion is always part of tomographic interpretations.…”

An Analytic Expression for the Volcanic Seismic Swarms Occurrence Rate. A Case Study of Some Volcanoes in the World

“…Here we analyze five earthquake catalogs of corresponding volcanic areas (Figure 1): Campi Flegrei (CF) (1982)(1983)(1984), CF (2000CF ( -2019, Etna (Alparone et al, 2015), Hawaii archipelago, volcanic cordillera of Guacanaste in Costa Rica.…”

When probabilistic seismic hazard climbs volcanoes: the Mt Etna case, Italy – Part 2: computational implementation and first results

“…Etna feature very shallow foci; (ii) these shocks, which are mainly concentrated on the southeastern flank of Mt. Etna, occur with about decennial frequency (see, for example, Azzaro et al, 2012Azzaro et al, , 2013Sicali et al, 2014) with or without synchronous volcanic activities; (iii) the last major events and interseismic periods have been monitored by a dense, high-quality instrumental local network whose geometry and characteristics have essentially remained unchanged during in the last 2 decades (Alparone et al, 2015).…”