New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore

On 23 March 2018, an event of magnitude M<sub>L</sub> 3.9 occurred about 10 km from the town of Ostuni, in the Adriatic offshore. It was the most energetic earthquake in South–Central Apulia ever recorded instrumentally. On 13 February 2019, in the same area, a second M<sub>L</s...

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Main Authors: Pierpaolo Pierri, Marilena Filippucci, Vincenzo Del Gaudio, Andrea Tallarico, Nicola Venisti, Vincenzo Festa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/784
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author Pierpaolo Pierri
Marilena Filippucci
Vincenzo Del Gaudio
Andrea Tallarico
Nicola Venisti
Vincenzo Festa
author_facet Pierpaolo Pierri
Marilena Filippucci
Vincenzo Del Gaudio
Andrea Tallarico
Nicola Venisti
Vincenzo Festa
author_sort Pierpaolo Pierri
collection DOAJ
description On 23 March 2018, an event of magnitude M<sub>L</sub> 3.9 occurred about 10 km from the town of Ostuni, in the Adriatic offshore. It was the most energetic earthquake in South–Central Apulia ever recorded instrumentally. On 13 February 2019, in the same area, a second M<sub>L</sub> 3.3 event was recorded. The analysis of the 2018 event shows that the ambiguity of the solution of the fault plane reported by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) on the Italian National Earthquake Centre website can be solved considering existing seismic profiles, exploration well logs and the Quaternary activity of faults in the epicentral area. A seismogenic source was identified in the rupture of a small portion of a 40 km length structure with strike NW-SE, dipping at a high angle toward the south. In this work, we have relocated the recent earthquakes by using the seismic stations managed by the University of Bari (UniBa), one of which is quite close to the event’s epicenter (about 20 km), together with data coming from the RSN (Rete Sismica Nazionale). Furthermore, we have determined the focal mechanism of some events, with implications on stress field of the area. Our results show right-lateral transtensional kinematics of the seismogenic faults along approximately E-W striking planes, with a tension, T, with a trend of about 60° (NE-SW direction) and a plunge of 20°. Finally, we have tried to correlate the location of the four best constrained earthquakes with their seismogenic structures.
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spelling doaj-art-8551d61064ef4a60a297d167a7bcc2302025-01-24T13:20:48ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-01-0115278410.3390/app15020784New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) OffshorePierpaolo Pierri0Marilena Filippucci1Vincenzo Del Gaudio2Andrea Tallarico3Nicola Venisti4Vincenzo Festa5Department of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Geo-Environmental Science, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (UniBa), 70126 Bari, ItalyOn 23 March 2018, an event of magnitude M<sub>L</sub> 3.9 occurred about 10 km from the town of Ostuni, in the Adriatic offshore. It was the most energetic earthquake in South–Central Apulia ever recorded instrumentally. On 13 February 2019, in the same area, a second M<sub>L</sub> 3.3 event was recorded. The analysis of the 2018 event shows that the ambiguity of the solution of the fault plane reported by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) on the Italian National Earthquake Centre website can be solved considering existing seismic profiles, exploration well logs and the Quaternary activity of faults in the epicentral area. A seismogenic source was identified in the rupture of a small portion of a 40 km length structure with strike NW-SE, dipping at a high angle toward the south. In this work, we have relocated the recent earthquakes by using the seismic stations managed by the University of Bari (UniBa), one of which is quite close to the event’s epicenter (about 20 km), together with data coming from the RSN (Rete Sismica Nazionale). Furthermore, we have determined the focal mechanism of some events, with implications on stress field of the area. Our results show right-lateral transtensional kinematics of the seismogenic faults along approximately E-W striking planes, with a tension, T, with a trend of about 60° (NE-SW direction) and a plunge of 20°. Finally, we have tried to correlate the location of the four best constrained earthquakes with their seismogenic structures.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/784earthquakeseismogenic faultApulia MurgeAdriatic offshoreOTRIONSfocal mechanism
spellingShingle Pierpaolo Pierri
Marilena Filippucci
Vincenzo Del Gaudio
Andrea Tallarico
Nicola Venisti
Vincenzo Festa
New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
Applied Sciences
earthquake
seismogenic fault
Apulia Murge
Adriatic offshore
OTRIONS
focal mechanism
title New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
title_full New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
title_fullStr New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
title_full_unstemmed New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
title_short New Insights on the Seismic Activity of Ostuni (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) Offshore
title_sort new insights on the seismic activity of ostuni apulia region southern italy offshore
topic earthquake
seismogenic fault
Apulia Murge
Adriatic offshore
OTRIONS
focal mechanism
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/784
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