A seismic swarm occurred today in the Adriatic Sea.
The first quake, at 14.47, the strongest, was of magnitude 5.6 at a depth of 5 kilometers, while the next, at 15.00, was of magnitude 4.1 at a depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter was located about 90 kilometers from the Apulian promontory of Gargano and the Tremiti islands and about 30 kilometers from the Croatian island of Lastovo. After the first shock, there were nine reruns in one hour, all in the same area of āāthe central Adriatic. According to Ingv data, between 14:47 and 16:05 there were three tremors with a magnitude greater than 4 (4.1 at 15.00, 4.1 at 15.13 and 4.0 at 15:21), four with a magnitude greater than 3, and three of magnitude greater than 2.
The earthquake was felt along most of the Adriatic coast, from Ancona to Foggia, and then inland up to Campania and Lazio.
“Within the first 30 minutes of the main shock, two events of magnitude 4.1 were recorded, one of magnitude 4 and three of magnitude greater than 3”, seismologist Salvatore Stramondo, of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv). “It is a seismicity that is continuing,” he added. “The earthquake occurred in a geologically very complex area, where the Adriatic microplate collides with the continental plate”, said Stramondo. “However, it is a situation to be understood, also because there have not been many precedents in this area”, he said again. Only since 1985 have they recorded magnitudes between 4.0 and 4.9, such as those occurred in 1988 and 2007 located south of the epicenter where today’s earthquake occurred. A first hypothesis that a sliding mechanism was generated in which the Dinarids, the mountain range that crosses part of the Balkans, whose submarine structure overlaps the epicenter area, played a role.
Following the checks carried out with the regional operating rooms “no damage to persons or property was reported”. This was stated by the Department of Civil Protection after the 5.6 magnitude earthquake in the central Adriatic and the following replicas. The epicenter of the earthquake was identified in the sea about 90 kilometers from the Foggia coast
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