2024 has confirmed itself as a seismic year for Italy, with as many as 16,826 earthquakes recorded by the INGV National Seismic Network. On average, they occurred just over 46 earthquakes a day, about two every hour. The most significant earthquake of the year occurred in Pietrapaola, Calabria, with a magnitude of 5.0. Emilia-Romagna was confirmed as the region with the highest number of earthquakes with a magnitude equal to or greater than 2.0, followed by Calabria and Sicily. INGV, through its National Seismic Network, constantly monitors the seismic activity of the Italian territory.
In 2024 the RSN located some events with a magnitude of 0.0 and even one with a negative (Richter) magnitude (-0.1)the latter on September 30th a few kilometers from Scheggia, on the border between Umbria and Marche. In this sector of the Apennines, INGV has a very dense network of seismometers, which allows it to locate very small earthquakes. The two earthquakes with a calculated magnitude of 0.0 also occurred in the Umbria-Marche Apennines. The increase in events of such small magnitude compared to 2023 is a sign of the continuous improvement of the INGV National Seismic Network.
The deepest occurred in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea on May 17, with magnitude ML 3.4, at 360 km depth. In the entire area between the Calabrian arc and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, a process of sinking of the Ionian oceanic lithosphere into the Earth’s mantle is underway. This geological process (subduction) is responsible for the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin, which did not exist until a few million years ago. This is the reason why even very deep earthquakes are recorded in this area.
This year the record for the first earthquake of the year is taken by Umbria, with its epicenter near Massa Martana, in the province of Perugia: magnitude 1.7two hours, 35 minutes and 11 seconds after midnight. This was followed by another small earthquake (M1.2) in the same area, only 30 seconds after the first. In third place was a new entry, the municipality of Sampeyre in the province of Cuneo, with a small earthquake of magnitude 1.6 which occurred three hours and 18 minutes after midnight.
The last event of 2024 was located in Tuscany, near Barberino del Mugello, less than 9 minutes from the end of the year (11.51.12pm on 31 December 2024). This earthquake, of magnitude 1.1, is part of a small seismic swarm that occurred in the Tuscan area a few hours before midnight on the 31st and ended on January 1st of this year. The high number of earthquakes recorded in Italy it is a confirmation of the seismic nature of our country. However, it is important to underline that most of these events are of low intensity and do not pose a danger to the population. “Prevention is key. It is important to build safe buildings, respecting anti-seismic regulations, and find out about the correct procedures to follow in the event of an earthquake. Italy is a seismic country and we have to live with this reality. Knowledge and prevention are our best allies to deal with this natural risk. The seismic surveillance service that INGV carries out ensures the communication of the parameters of seismic events in a short time to the Civil Protection and the public“, comments Lucia Margheriti, Director of the INGV National Earthquake Observatory (ONT). “We are proud to carry out this task and provide the scientific community with basic data to improve understanding of the seismogenic process. We aim to continually improve our services, products and our communication“.
The seismicity of 2024 is collected in an interactive map available on the INGVterremoti blog. All the earthquakes highlighted on the map can be queried by the user to know their relative parameters: magnitude, depth and epicentral area.
