M=6.2 earthquake strikes central Italy, 35 km north of the disastrous 2009 M=6.3 L’Aquila event

Ross Stein and Volkan Sevilgen, Temblor

Today’s earthquake, 10 km southeast of Norcia, has a shallow depth of 10 km, and lies in the Central Apennines normal faulting system. It was felt from Rome to Bologna. One can see from the Temblor map below that quakes of this size are expected one or two times in a lifetime at Norcia. In other words, a M=6 quake here as a little over a 1% chance of occurring per year. Fortunately, the epicenter does not lie at a major urban center, and so we are hopeful that casualties will not be high.

The 2009 M=6.3 L’Aquila quake struck just 35 km to the south in the Abruzzo. The L’Aquila mainshock struck just 5 km from the town. The quake took 308 lives and destroyed the central business district and most of the treasured historical buildings that distinguished the town. Despite its modest size, L’Aquila proved to be the deadliest earthquake in Italy since the much larger M=6.9 1980 Irpinia shock.

Data from USGS, INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Volcanologia) and EMSC (European‑Mediterranean Seismological Centre)

You can check the aftershocks here.