The 2012 Pianura Padana Emiliana seimic sequence: locations, moment tensors and magnitudes

Abstract

On May 20, 2012 (02:03:53 UTC), an Mw 5.86 (Ml 5.9) earthquake struck the Pianura Padana Emiliana region (northern Italy), causing five deaths and damage to several villages and to the towns of Ferrara and Modena. The mainshock was preceded, three hours earlier, by a Mw 3.98 (Ml 4.1) foreshock, which almost co-located with the main event. After the main event, the seismic sequence included six earthquakes with magnitudes >5.0. The biggest aftershock was located about 12 km west of the first mainshock, and was a Mw 5.66 (Ml 5.8) earthquake that occurred on May 29, 2012 (07:00:03 UTC); this can be considered as a second mainshock. After this event, the official death toll of the seismic sequence was 17 people. Moreover, there had been severe damage to the economy of the region and there were 13,000 homeless. [...]

Keywords

• Seismology
• Earthquake source and dynamics
• Surveys, measurements, and monitoring
• Waves and wave analysis