An earthquake of magnitude 3.6 it hit yesterday at 00:28 there North-eastern Sicily, with epicenter 2 km from Militello Rosemary, in the province of Messina, as confirmed by INGV. The earthquake was distinctly felt throughout the area and recorded a depth of just 8km. The first earthquake was followed by 3 others with the same epicenter, respectively of magnitude 2.6, 2.0 And 2.7.
These, however, are only the latest of one series of shocks which has been affecting the area in recent days. On Sunday 18 January, at 2.54pm, an earthquake occurred with magnitude 4.0, which in turn triggered a seismic sequence with numerous tremors also in the following days. Precisely for this reason in the last few days from Sunday to today they have been recorded at least 30 shocks with magnitude above 2.0.
From a geological point of view this is not an unusual event: the municipality of Militello Rosemary is located within an area with high seismic dangeras clearly highlighted in the image below.
Historically, earthquakes with an estimated magnitude of 5.6 (in 1613) and of 5.4 (in 1739), while in more recent times we can highlight the seismic sequence of 2011 characterized by numerous events, the strongest of which with magnitude of 4.5.
Be careful thoughin the last few hours online some are wondering if the floods that are currently affecting Sicily are in some way related to these earthquakes. It is good to clarify that no: it is about events totally independent of each other. In theory, in fact, it is true that a strong earthquake could be cause tsunamis but this is not the case for several reasons:
- there magnitude is too low;
- the epicenter it’s on mainlandnot at sea;
- bad weather is caused by Cyclone Harry which has been affecting the area for days.
In light of all this, therefore, we can state with certainty that bad weather and seismic events are totally unrelated to each other.
