Monitoring of Tectonic Movements in the Adriatic Region Through National Permanent Satellite Networks

Abstract

The purpose of this study is the analysis of the dynamics of tectonic movements accompanied by two strong seismic events that occurred in the Durres area (Albania) in September-November 2019, through the use of GNSS technology, applied to national permanent satellite geodetic networks. Previous studies have been carried out on our study area by foreign authors from Croatia, Greece, and Italy. For our study case, we relied on geodetic weekly data secured from the Bulletins of Italian and Austrian stations, BSW52, of some of the constituent points of the two national permanent satellite networks of Italy (5 points) and Albania (6 points), located on both sides of the dividing line between the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Adriatic microplate. The analysis of the data secured in 7 campaigns was carried out by grouping them into 3 main analysis periods: the period before the September earthquake (F1-F4, called A), the period during the earthquakes (F4-F5, called B), and the period after the November earthquake (F5-F7, called C). It turns out that in plan the speed of movement in the area is: -0.00294m/year for period (A), -0.01912m/year for period (B), and -0.00305m/year for period (C). While in height, the speeds of movement are: 0.00130m/year for period (A), -0.04268m/year for period (B), and 0.00273m/year for period (C). These vectors also show us that the intensity T between period (B) and the average periods (A, C) is about 17 times in plan and 42 times in height. Combined this analysis with data that includes strong consecutive seismic events in the area, we believe that this intensity T can lead us to the most accurate predictability of the moment of the occurrence of the next tectonic energy release, thus of the next earthquake.