Romano Camassi

CPTI11, the 2011 version of the Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes

CPTI11 updates and improves the 2004 version of CPTI with respect to background information and structure. It is based on updated macroseismic (DBMI11; Locati et al., 2011) and instrumental databases; it contains records of foreshocks and aftershocks; for some offshore events, macroseismic earthquake parameters have been determined by means of the method by Bakun and Wentworth (1997); when both macroseismic and instrumental parameters are available, the two determinations and a default one are provided (in this case, the epicentre is selected according to expert judgement, while Mw is obtained as a weighted mean); for some events, whose macroseismic data are poor, no macroseismic parameters have been determined. CPTI11 does not include the results of some methodological developments performed in the frame of the EC project “SHARE”. It does not consider the information background provided by: Molin et al. (2008); Camassi et al. (2011); recent studies on individual earthquakes; ECOS 2009 (Faeh et al., 2011) and SisFrance, 2010, yet, which will be considered in the next version. The area covered by CPTI11 is slightly reduced with respect to the one of CPTI04 (Fig. 1). The catalogue is composed of two sections: the main one (1000-2006) and the “Etna” earthquakes, for which a specific calibration is used for determining earthquake parameters. Appendix 4 supplies the list of the events which were included in CPTI04 but not in CPTI11 and the relevant explanation.

DBMI15, the 2015 version of the Italian Macroseismic Database

Provides homogeneous set of macroseismic intensity data collected from several sources, for Italian earthquakes with maximum intensity ≥ 5 in the period 1000-2014.

The shadow-zone of large Italian earthquakes. Early journalistic sources and their perception of 17th-18th centuries seismicity

From their earliest beginnings in the 16th century, journalists never failed to find earth-quakes interesting. As a result, early journalistic sources offer a huge hoard of original earthquake data, mostly untapped to this day for seismological purposes [Camassi and Castelli, 2003]. In the aftermath of large earthquakes, the journalists of the 17th and 18th centuries tended to react in two ways. Either their interest for seismic news would increase, leading them to hunt for more news of the same kind, or it would focus exclusively on the “big one” to the detriment of lesser contemporary earthquakes. In the first case, it was possible that more earthquakes than usual would be given coverage; but in the second case more earthquakes than usual were likely to be overlooked and shadowed by the larger event. Through a comprehensive cross-check of Italian early journalistic sources, this paper attempts to highlight the “shadow-zones” of some major 17th–18th centuries Italian earthquakes.

The seismic risk perception questionnaire

Abstract The communication of natural hazards and their consequences is one of the more relevant ethical issues faced by scientists. In the last few years, social studies have provided evidence that risk communication is strongly influenced by the risk perception of the public. A theory that offers an integrative approach to understanding and explaining risk perception is still missing. To explain risk perception, it is necessary to consider several perspectives: social, psychological and cultural perspectives and their interactions. In our opinion, the semantic differential method is one of the most suitable methods to understand all these aspects. A questionnaire on the perception of seismic risk has been constructed using this method. The questionnaire consists of an informative part and seven sections, respectively, dedicated to the following: hazard, vulnerability (home and workplace), exposure, institutions and community, earthquake phenomena, risk information and their sources and a comparison between seismic risk and other natural hazards. The questionnaire allows one to obtain a perception score for each factor: hazard, exposure, vulnerability, institutions and community and earthquake phenomena. In January 2013, the first survey was conducted in Italy; preliminary data are discussed. Improving our knowledge about the perception of seismic risk would allow us to plan activities in advance for the mitigation of seismic risk and for more effective strategies for risk communication.

The 1561 Earthquake(s) in Southern Italy: New Insights into a Complex Seismic Sequence

In the summer of 1561, a strong seismic sequence struck southern Italy, then the Spanish-ruled Kingdom of Naples. Both the Italian seismological tradition and the latest catalogues locate it in the Vallo di Diano (Diano Valley), a low-seismicity intermontane basin 100 km south-east of Naples. We explore the hypothesis that current perception of the 1561 earthquake is distorted by the nature of the historical dataset from which its parameters have been assessed, and which mostly derive from a single—albeit very detailed—primary source. We present and discuss several previously unconsidered original accounts. Our results cast doubts on the traditional interpretation of the earthquake, which could have been either one Vallo di Diano mainshock or several strong earthquakes within a time/space window compact enough for contemporary viewers to perceive them as one. Unquestionably, there is much more to the 1561 earthquake(s) than previously appeared. We hope that this groundbreaking effort will rekindle the interest of the seismological community in this seismic episode, our knowledge of which is still far from complete.

What’s the Seismic Risk Perception in Italy?

Risk perception is a fundamental element in the definition and the adoption of preventive counter-measures. In order to develop effective information and risk communication strategies, the perception of risks and the influencing factors should be known. This paper presents preliminary results of the first survey on seismic risk perception in Italy. The research design combines a psychometric and a cultural theoretical approach. More than 5,000 on-line questionnaires have been compiled from January 23rd till July 25th, 2013. The data collected show that seismic risk perception in Italy is strongly underestimated; 86 out of 100 Italian citizens, living in the most dangerous zone (namely Zone 1), do not have a correct perception of seismic hazards. From these observations we deem that extremely urgent measures are to be taken in Italy to find effective ways to communicate seismic risk.

Catalogo PArametrico dei Terremoti Italiani, versione CPTI11

The Italian Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (CPTI, Catalogo Parametrico dei Terremoti Italiani) represents the most extensive and reliable source of parameters for earthquakes in Italy and surrounding areas. CPTI15 is the fourth release of the CPTI series, the first dating back to 1999, and provides the most advanced and updated sets of macroseismic and instrumental data and parameters, for Italian earthquakes with maximum intensity I ≥ 5 or magnitude Mw ≥ 4.0 in the period 1000-2014. The catalogue lists 4584 events, 70% of which are based on the macroseismic datapoints provided by the Italian Macroseismic Database DBMI15. If available, both macroseismic and instrumental parameters are provided, together with a set of “preferred ones”, which consist of a selection between the macroseismic and the instrumental epicentres, and the weighted average of the macroseismic and instrumental magnitudes.

A 17th Century Destructive Seismic Crisis in the Gargano Area: Its Implications on the Understanding of Local Seismicity

A significant and partly forgotten series of earthquakes located in the Gargano area (Southern Italy) between 1646 and 1688 AD is critically revised, in the light of newly discovered historical records derived from non local contemporary serial sources (early newspapers and diplomatic reports). The revision is conducted in the frame of a survey of the current state of knowledge on historical Gargano seismicity. Hypotheses on the seismotectonic effects of the evente and their influences on the evaluation of local seismic hazard are also proposed.