| Abstract: | After describing attempts at perfecting a methodology for studying isotropic and anisotropic macroseismic fields in previous works, the authors here try to identify the causes of anisotropy in the context of the “new basement tectonics”.The seismic data are taken both from reconstructions of the macroseismic fields of historic events, by means of a critical analysis of the data, and from macroseismic fields of recent events surveyed by the authors. These data are correlated to the structural framework obtained through recent neotectonic studies and the lineament distribution traced on satellite images and using the “shadow” method. Generally the direction of elongation of the mesoseismic area is closely dependent on the source parameters and can be associated with recent and present-day systems outlined by the latest neotectonic studies.The best correlation is observed, however, with the lineament pattern obtained using the “shadow” method: the domains of the lineaments associated with the preferential trend of the macroseismic field show, in the rose diagram of cumulative number, values of prevalence and kurtosis higher than average; in the cumulative lengths diagram, on the other hand, they show prevalence maxima and, in particular, kurtosis maxima which are all the higher the more the anisotropic trend of field is accentuated. Using the “Giant Griffith Cracks” model for the lineaments, it can be deduced that the swarms refer to fracture systems with greater vertical development generated during the most recent tectonic phases.Finally, from a study of the dynamic characteristics of the elastic waves, that are the main agents responsible for macroseismic effects, it can observed that the wavelength order of magnitude is comparable with that of the linear parameters in the “warp” formed by the “Giant Cracks”. It can, thus, be deduced that the strong absorption of energy can be determined by the fracture swarm when the wave propagation occurs orthogonally to the swarm. |
