Correction to: Cultural heritage and earthquakes: bridging the gap between geophysics,archaeoseismology and engineering

Journal of Seismology -     

Role of African–Eurasian plate setting in the felt areas of intermediate‐depth earthquakes: an investigation using crowdsourced data

Greek intermediate‐depth earthquakes, occurring in the subducted plate of the Hellenic Arc, are felt at greater distances than expected, reaching Italy in some cases. We study in detail macroseismic intensity data from intermediate‐depth Italian and Greek earthquakes collected from Internet users who felt the shaking in Italy. The huge amount of data allowed us to outline the felt/not‐felt limit and to find a correspondence between attenuation areas and the presence of asthenospheric material at shallow depths. We show that plate boundaries, known to produce the majority of earthquakes, are, in some specific cases, the boundaries of areas in which earthquakes are felt. The Ionian subducted lithosphere propagates seismic waves with low attenuation over large distances, whereas high‐attenuation zones in Italy, linked to asthenospheric upwelling, limit the propagation, as evidenced also by PGA values. We identify a typical pattern that can be used to recognize intermediate‐depth earthquakes, and to properly locate historical events.     

In vitro effects of nonylphenol on functional responses of haemocytes of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri

The effects of nonylphenol (NP) on functional responses of haemocytes of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri were evaluated. Haemocytes were exposed to 0.1, 1 and 10 μM NP and the effects on haemocyte viability, adhesion, morphology, lysosomal membrane stability, phagocytic activity and early apoptosis were evaluated. Haemocyte viability and adhesion were not affected by NP. Phagocytic activity and the amoebocytic index decreased significantly at all the concentrations tested, while exposure of haemocytes to 1 and 10 μM NP caused a significant increase in the diffusion of Neutral Red into the cytosol. The percentage of cells positive to Annexin-V (indicative of early apoptosis) increased significantly at 1 and 10 μM NP. Results obtained suggested a relationship between NP and alterations in functional responses of haemocytes in B. schlosseri. Biomarkers measured resulted sensitive, rapid and reproducible, even if their responsiveness will be evaluated after in vivo exposure of animals to NP.     

Highly reproducible quasi-mosaic crystals as optical components for a Laue lens

The realization of a Laue lens for astronomical purposes involves the mass production of a series of crystalline tiles as optical components, allowing high-efficiency diffraction and high-resolution focusing of photons. Crystals with self-standing curved diffraction planes is a valid and promising solution. Exploiting the quasi-mosaic effect, it turns out to be possible to diffract radiation at higher resolution. In this paper we present the realization of 150 quasi-mosaic Ge samples, bent by grooving one of their largest surface. We show that grooving method is a viable technique to manufacture such crystals in a simple and very reproducible way, thus compatible with mass production. Realized samples present very homogenous curvature. Furthermore, with a specific chemical etch, it is possible to fine adjust one by one the radius of curvature of the grooved samples. Realized crystals was selected for the ASI’s Laue project, that involves the implementation of a prototype of a Laue lens for hard X- and soft γ-ray astronomy.     

Long-Term RST Analysis of Anomalous TIR Sequences in Relation with Earthquakes Occurred in Greece in the Period 2004–2013

Real-time integration of multi-parametric observations is expected to accelerate the process toward improved, and operationally more effective, systems for time-Dependent Assessment of Seismic Hazard (t-DASH) and earthquake short-term (from days to weeks) forecast. However, a very preliminary step in this direction is the identification of those parameters (chemical, physical, biological, etc.) whose anomalous variations can be, to some extent, associated with the complex process of preparation for major earthquakes. In this paper one of these parameters (the Earth’s emitted radiation in the Thermal InfraRed spectral region) is considered for its possible correlation with M ≥ 4 earthquakes occurred in Greece in between 2004 and 2013. The Robust Satellite Technique (RST) data analysis approach and Robust Estimator of TIR Anomalies (RETIRA) index were used to preliminarily define, and then to identify, significant sequences of TIR anomalies (SSTAs) in 10 years (2004–2013) of daily TIR images acquired by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager on board the Meteosat Second Generation satellite. Taking into account the physical models proposed for justifying the existence of a correlation among TIR anomalies and earthquake occurrences, specific validation rules (in line with the ones used by the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability—CSEP—Project) have been defined to drive a retrospective correlation analysis process. The analysis shows that more than 93 % of all identified SSTAs occur in the prefixed space–time window around (M ≥ 4) earthquake's time and location of occurrence with a false positive rate smaller than 7 %. Molchan error diagram analysis shows that such a correlation is far to be achievable by chance notwithstanding the huge amount of missed events due to frequent space/time data gaps produced by the presence of clouds over the scene. Achieved results, and particularly the very low rate of false positives registered on a so long testing period, seems already sufficient (at least) to qualify TIR anomalies (identified by RST approach and RETIRA index) among the parameters to be considered in the framework of a multi-parametric approach to t-DASH.     

通过对调查数据的趋势和多变量分析确定宏观场

通过多变(相关分析)和趋势分析等统计方法对宏观调查数据进行了解释.这种方法使我们通过评定不同宏观效应叠加的程度、估计调查数据的不确定性更客观地评定烈度.通过滤波确定烈度场的区域分量,使我们消除观测中的局部变化.给出了选取适当滤波参数的准则.本文应用这一方法对发生在意大利的一次地震的调查数据进行了处理.