GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF ITALIAN EARTHQUAKES - NEW PALEOSEISMOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE FUCINO PLAIN (CENTRAL ITALY)

Paleoseismological analysis conducted along a fault whose last movemen t is related to the 1915 earthquake in Central Italy (M=6.8) has provi ded significant additional information on the seismogenesis of the reg ion. Seven Holocene surface faulting events were detected in an area c haracterized by only one strong historical earthquake. Apart from the 1915 event, the preceding three coseismic displacements (for which goo d chronological constraints are available) occurred about 5000-6000 ye ars B.P., 3200-3400 years B.P. and in the second half of the first mil lennium A.D. (possibly the 508 A.D. earthquake). It is also possible t o assess the occurrence of other Upper Pleistocene events, but without any precise chronological framework. The time interval between surfac e faulting events similar to that related to the 1915 event is greater than 1000 years (probably 1500-2000 years). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.