All earthquakes
2.9
light
EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

3 km East of Pieve Torina

116 months ago · 9 Dec, 22:44

A light earthquake, rarely felt by people. At only a few km deep the shaking is felt more sharply at the surface.

Stronger than 98% of Italian events in the past year

Where

3 km East of Pieve TorinaEarthquakes in the province of MacerataEarthquakes in Marche

How far away could it be felt?

An estimate of how far people may have felt this quake.

  • up to ~8 km · felt only by some, at rest
    ≈ 4,000 people live in this area

The coloured rings on the map below show these distances.

Statistical estimate from the Italian intensity attenuation model (INGV): actual perception depends on geology, buildings and depth. Very shallow events can be felt locally even below the threshold.

Earthquake map

61 events
Magnitude:lightweakmoderatestrong

The energy released

How much energy this quake unleashed, translated into everyday comparisons.

338kgof TNT equivalent
1.4 lightning bolts
M3
A magnitude 3 earthquake releases ×1.4 its energy
M2this quakeM4

Each extra magnitude unit releases about 32 times more energy: an M5 is not "a bit stronger" than an M4 — it is a different league.

Energy estimated with the standard Gutenberg–Richter relation; an average lightning bolt ≈ 1 billion joules. Indicative values.

The race of the seismic waves

Two waves set off from the hypocentre: the faster P wave arrives first with a sharp jolt; the S wave carries the actual shaking.

P waves — the first sharp jolt (~6 km/s)S waves — the strongest shaking (~3.5 km/s)
t ≈ 19 s

Animation sped up ~4× compared to reality.

  • Foligno
    21 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~4 s
    main shaking in ~7 s
  • Terni
    58 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~10 s
    main shaking in ~17 s
  • Perugia
    59 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~10 s
    main shaking in ~17 s
  • Teramo
    65 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~11 s
    main shaking in ~19 s

Theoretical times with average crustal speeds: real values vary with geology. The gap between P and S waves is what earthquake early-warning systems rely on.

How deep it was born

8 km
shallow

At only a few km deep the shaking is felt more sharply at the surface.

in line with the area average (~11 km)

For the same magnitude, a shallow earthquake is felt much more than a deep one: the energy starts closer to the surface.

What kind of quake is this?

Foreshock

In hindsight it was a foreshock: 115 months ago the same area had a stronger quake (M3.3). This can only be said after the fact — it was not predictable beforehand.

3.3
The mainshock
1 km North-West of Visso
115 months ago · 5 Jan, 12:34
Activity in the area right now (30 km radius)
16
last 24 hours
65
last 7 days
336
last 30 days
0 before2000 after
this quake
Strongest of the sequence3.3

How often does it happen here?

about every ~1 days

Within 50 km of this epicentre, a magnitude ≥ 2.5 earthquake has occurred on average this often: 4014 events in the last 12 years of the INGV catalogue.

An average computed on the recent past: it tells how used this area is to shaking, not when the next quake will come — earthquakes cannot be predicted.

The great earthquakes in this area's history

Almost a thousand years of catalogues: the strongest documented events within ~50 km.

17036.9
Valnerina earthquake
14 January 1703 · 34 km from here
XICatastrophic: very few buildings remain standing; landslides and ground cracks.
20166.6
Valnerina earthquake
30 October 2016 · 21 km from here
XICatastrophic: very few buildings remain standing; landslides and ground cracks.
13286.5
Valnerina earthquake
1 December 1328 · 18 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
18326.4
Valle Umbra earthquake
13 January 1832 · 38 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.

Source: Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes CPTI15 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).

The closest seismic structure

Muccia-Castelluccio di Norcia

The epicentre sits above this source area: the deep structure where this area's earthquakes can originate.

estimated maximum magnitude 6.9between 2 and 10 km deep

Faults are mapped to build better and understand the territory: knowing them says nothing about when an earthquake will occur, which remains unpredictable. Source: DISS 3.3 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).

Other quakes in the area

1.7
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:14
1.8
1 km West of Preci
16 km South · 10 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:24
1.3
6 km North-East of Visso
5 km East · 11 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:28
1.4
4 km North-West of Pieve Torina
4 km North-West · 6 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:36
1.9
4 km North of Visso
3 km South-East · 9 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:44
1.6
3 km East of Pieve Torina
2 km South · 13 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 07:52
1.2
115 months ago
29 Dec, 08:03
1.6
4 km West of Visso
8 km South-West · 11 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 08:07
0.9
5 km North of Preci
12 km South · 10 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 08:09
1.5
4 km North-West of Visso
5 km South-West · 8 km
115 months ago
29 Dec, 08:13

Data: INGV — National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CC-BY 4.0)

Estimates computed by Meteare on INGV data (Gutenberg–Richter relation; Italian macroseismic intensity attenuation model).

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