Natural disasters, from time to time overtaking civilization, in most cases bring irreparable harm and lead to human casualties. Despite the progress of science and technology, humanity has not only failed to learn how to manage natural phenomena, but it also does not know how to predict them reliably. Such disasters include a series of earthquakes that have recently occurred in northern Italy.
In the second half of May 2012, a series of strong tremors occurred in northern Italy. The disaster affected most of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, but the earthquake on May 20 with a magnitude of 5, 9 was felt almost throughout the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula and caused the population of Italy to panic.
The tremors in Italy indicate the manifestation of new geological processes throughout the region. A slightly lesser increase in seismic activity at the same time was noted in the south of the country, according to ITAR-TASS.
Columnist for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Giovanni Caprara, notes that periodic earthquakes in Italy are forcing scientists to look for the causes of natural phenomena in the earth's crust and find new ways to predict seismic events. The result of the joint work of scientists should be an updated map of seismic hazardous zones.
Experts from the National Institute of Volcanology and Geophysics of Italy believe that the Padan Lowland affected by the disaster has long attracted their attention, but statistical data for timely prediction of earthquakes is still insufficient and not too accurate, since a qualified forecast requires years of observations.
Geophysicists believe that the series of tremors that have passed through the country are the norm, characteristic of the so-called "bunch" earthquakes. After the first shock, perturbations arise underground, which leads to unpredictable rock movements.
As the main cause of the earthquake that befell the northern part of Italy, the version is put forward that the African tectonic plate is pressing on the Eurasian one. In this case, the densest rocks of the northern part of the African plate break off and move into the thickness of the earth's mantle. Not only northern but also southern Italian regions, including Sicily, are at risk of seismic activity. Such deep and hidden from our eyes global geological processes lead to recurring earthquakes.
International researchers hope that the evidence regarding changes in the movement of lithospheric plates will make it possible in the near future to build high-quality forecasts of seismic activity in the Mediterranean region.
