Study of the seismicity temporal variation for the current seismic hazard evaluation in Val d'Agri, Italy

Abstract

This study examines the temporal variation of the seismicity in the Val d'Agri (southern Italy) and adjacent areas, for the current seismic hazard evaluation. The temporal variation of the seismicity is expressed as time series of the number of earthquakes, b value of Gutenberg-Richter relationship or bvalue of the frequency-magnitude distribution and the seismic energy released in the form of logE2/3. The analysis was performed by means of a new research tool that includes visualizing techniques, which helps the interactive exploration and the interpretation of temporal variation changes. The obtained time series show a precursory seismicity pattern, characterized by low and high probability periods, which preceded earthquakes of magnitude Mg‰¥ 4.0. The 75% of the examined cases were successfully correlated with a change in seismicity pattern. The average duration of the low and the high probability periods is 10.6 and 13.8 months respectively. These results indicate that the seismicity temporal variation monitoring in a given area and the recognition of the low and high probability periods can contribute to the evaluation, in regular monthly intervals, of current seismic hazard status.