In the night between Monday 31 March and Tuesday 1 April at 3:30 an earthquake of magnitude 3.8 He hit the Costa del Gargano, in Puglia, about 14 km from the municipalities of San Nicandro Garganico And Lesine in the province of Foggia. The earthquake, with an epicenter at sea and hypocenter at a depth of just 6 kmwas followed by two other shocks at the hours 5:18 And 7:58, respectively of magnitude 2.0 And 2.1. Fortunately, there are no particular damage to things or people, although earthquakes have been distinctly warned throughout the province.
These are events that arrive a few days after the earthquake of magnitude 4.7 of March 14th. This should not surprise us: the Gargano area is historically seismic, And this is confirmed by at least three earthquakes that occurred in the seventeenth century, whose maximum estimated magnitude was even higher than 7.0.
How do you explain this situation from a geological point of view? To answer this question we can go to consult the DRUGS DISS, within which the main seismogenetic sources in Italy are reported. Here it is well noted that the epicenter is close to various fault systems, indicated in orange in the image below.
Attention: The fact that in recent weeks there have been numerous earthquakes in southern Italy is not anomalous. This area is in fact one of those with the greatest seismic danger of the whole country and therefore the presence of shocks in different areas after a few days is completely normal and does not imply any type of correlation between the various events. Just to give an example, today’s shocks in Foggia are in no way related to those Campi Flegrei – Also because in this case these are two completely different trigger mechanisms. On the one hand, in fact, we have an earthquake of tectonic origin, while on the other a series of shocks of volcanic origin and linked to bradisism.
