January 2017 Central Italy earthquakes

A series of four major earthquakes struck Central Italy between Abruzzo, Lazio, the Marche and Umbria regions on 18 January 2017.[2]

January 2017 Central Italy earthquakes
UTC time2017-01-18 10:14:10
ISC event611831611
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date17 January 2017 (2017-01-17)
Local time11:14:10 CET
Magnitude5.7 Mw
Depth7.0 km (4.3 mi)
Areas affectedCentral Italy
Max. intensityVIII (Severe)[1]
Casualties34 deaths

Earthquakes

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 25 km northwest of L'Aquila on 18 January at 10:25 local time at a depth of 9 km.[3] A stronger, 5.7 tremor hit the same epicentral area at 11:14 local time.[4] A third earthquake of preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck 11 minutes later.[5] At 14:33 local time, the fourth tremor of magnitude 5.2 was registered.[6] These earthquakes were followed by multiple aftershocks.

The earthquakes were strongly felt in other parts of central Italy, including the city of Rome, where the metro system and many schools were evacuated.[7] The strongest tremor was also felt in coastal parts of Croatia (with an intensity of III).[8] Five deaths were reported in Teramo, Crognaleto and Campotosto.[9] These earthquakes also appeared to have triggered, in combination with a winter storm, the Rigopiano avalanche a few hours later, that struck a hotel.

Avalanche
Main article: Rigopiano avalanche

During the evening of 18 January, the Rigopiano Hotel in the Gran Sasso mountain near Farindola in the Abruzzo region was struck by an avalanche, thought to have been triggered by the earthquakes, leaving "many dead".[10][11] There were forty people in the hotel when the avalanche struck, including twenty-eight guests and twelve employees.[12] Twenty-nine people were confirmed dead from the avalanche.[13] A total of nine people were rescued,[14][15] and two other people survived because they had been standing outside of the hotel when the avalanche hit.[16][17]

It was reported that shortly after the earthquake hit the region, hotel guests were gathered on the ground floor of the hotel, awaiting evacuation when the avalanche struck.[17] Upon impact, the avalanche caused part of the roof of the hotel to collapse, and moved it 10 meters (33 feet) down the mountain.[18]

Shocks
Magnitude of January 2017 earthquakes
Date / time
(UTC)		 Magnitude Type Depth
Hypocenter		 Epicenter
Location Latitude Longitude
2017-01-18   09:25:40 5.3 Mw 9.0 km Montereale 42.55 13.26
2017-01-18   10:14:09 5.7 Mw 9.0 km Capitignano 42.53 13.28
2017-01-18   10:15:33 4.7 Mw 10.0 km Capitignano 42.53 13.29
2017-01-18   10:16:39 4.7 Mw 11.0 km Capitignano 42.55 13.28
2017-01-18   10:25:23 5.6 Mw 9.0 km Capitignano 42.49 13.31
2017-01-18   13:33:36 5.2 Mw 10.0 km Cagnano Amiterno 42.48 13.28
Magnitude from August 2016 Central Italy earthquakes

Geological aspects
Shakemap of the strongest earthquake on 18 January 2017.

The quakes occurred in a seismic gap which is located between the areas hit by the August 2016 earthquake, the October 2016 earthquakes and the one in Umbria and Marche in 1997. In that gap, no strong earthquake happened for more than 100 years[19] until 2016.

The rapid succession of four bursts of seismic activity in three hours, all of which with a magnitude higher than 5 was described as "a novel phenomenon in recent history" by seismologists from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Italy.[20] The same scientists compared it with the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, where three different quakes happened in 80 seconds.

As the process of faulting along the chain of the Apennine Mountains is a relatively recent one in geological terms, starting 500,000 years ago, the faults are more irregular, so more shaking occurs due to foreshocks according to seismologist Ross Stein from Stanford University.

gollark: ... of course not, how would that even *work*?
gollark: Yes, that would NOT be effective in the large apiolectromagnetic field gradients involved.
gollark: It is not currently interfaced with points.
gollark: Fascinating idea. Is this resilient against possible cryoapioformic colony collapse?
gollark: Less efficient I guess, but that's not a concern given the availability of contrahumor.

See also

References
  1. "M 5.7 - 6km WSW of Amatrice, Italy". United States Geological Survey. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  2. "Terremoto, 4 scosse sopra magnitudo 5: torna la paura nel Centro Italia in ginocchio per la neve". 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  3. "Earthquake, Magnitude 5.3 – CENTRAL ITALY – 2017 January 18, 09:25:40 UTC". Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  4. "Earthquake, Magnitude 5.7 – CENTRAL ITALY – 2017 January 18, 10:14:10 UTC". Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  5. "Earthquake, Magnitude 5.6 – CENTRAL ITALY – 2017 January 18, 10:25:25 UTC". Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  6. "Earthquake, Magnitude 5.2 – CENTRAL ITALY – 2017 January 18, 13:33:37 UTC". Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  7. Angela Dewan; Barbie Nadeau. "Rome's subway evacuated as quakes rock Italy". CNN. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  8. "Geofizički odsjek PMF-a". gfz.hr. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  9. "Sisma, due morti a Campotosto e tre nel Teramano – Tgcom24". Tgcom24. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  10. "Hotel travolto da valanga, quattro morti e oltre 25 dispersi: "Aspettavano spazzaneve per andare via"".
  11. "'Many dead' in avalanche on Italy hotel in the Abruzzo". BBC News. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  12. "Death toll of Italy hotel avalanche keeps rising, as first funerals held". Global Times. Xinhua. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  13. "Italy's Rigopiano hotel death toll reaches 29, rescue operation over". TASS Russian News Agency. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  14. Denti, Antonio. "More survivors in Italian avalanche hotel as death toll rises to five". Reuters. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  15. "Miracolo Rigopiano: 10 ancora vivi, salvati 4 bambini". 20 January 2017.
  16. Giuffrida, Angela. "Italy avalanche: many feared dead as Rigopiano hotel engulfed". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  17. "Killer avalanche turns Italian hotel into 'coffin'". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  18. "Rigopiano hotel avalanche: Italian rescuers find no sign of life". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  19. since there is that 1879 quake in the map, not more offside than the actual quake its safer to say so, instead telling the 157 years from source spiegel.de
  20. "Ingv, quattro terremoti in tre ore, mai vista una serie simile – Terra e Poli – Scienza&Tecnica". ANSA.it (in Italian). ANSA. 18 January 2017.
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