| Abstract: | The most recent seismic profiles in southern Italy show the existence of a sudden thinning of the crust at the boundary between the chain and the Tyrrhenian margin. The abrupt change in thickness can be followed along a zone which has the same geometry in plan as the Calabrian arc. By considering these data and the gravimetric anomalies, it is possible to associate this crustal anomaly with a deep-seated shear zone which determines a crustal shortening of about 40–60 km which can only be a consequence of post-Tortonian tectonics. The surface equivalents of the deep-seated shear zone can be recognized, from north to south, in the alignment of the intra-Apenninic basins (Vallo di Diano, San Arcangelo, Potenza), in the Crati-Mesima graben and in the Mount Kumeta-Alcantara fault zone.The distribution of the seismicity and its connection with the surface structures shows that the largest earthquakes occur along the deep shear-zone. In particular, shocks with the highest magnitude and the longest recurrence intervals are located in those areas where the deep shear zone is at an angle of about 90° with the direction of maximum shortening (Crati-Mesima graben). The fault zones nearly parallel to the regional compression axis (e.g., Mount Kumeta-Alcantara fault zone) are characterized by earthquakes of lower magnitude. Taking into account the neotectonic evolution of the regional structures, as well as the orientation of the stress field and its connection with the deep-seated shear zone, it is possible to distinguish the following seismotectonic zones: Upper Crati-Mesima graben, transverse throughs, Mount Pollino-Mount Raparo fault zone, external Ionian area, San Arcangelo basin-zone of the external flysch, Sicani Mountains, Mount Kumeta-Alcantara fault zone, Caltanissetta basin, and Iblean plateau-Bradanic trough-Murge ridge. The definition of the geometry of the shear zone at depth is one of the most important, but still unresolved problems. |
