Active faulting and related tsunamis in eastern Sicily and south-western Calabria

The Calabrian arc and eastern Sicily are currently affected by large earthquakes and by an intense volcanic activity, related to ESE-WNW trending extensional tectonics. The main regional feature is given by a prominent normal fault belt (the Siculo-Calabrian rift zone) that runs more or less continuously for a total length of about 370 km along the inner side of the Calabrian arc, extending through the Messina Straits along the Ionian coast of Sicily as far as the Hyblean Plateau. The normal faults are characterized by a very young morphology and they control both the major mountain ranges of the region (Catena Costiera, Sila, Serre, Aspromonte, Peloritani, Hyblean Plateau), and the coastline of southern Calabria and eastern Sicily. The distinct fault segments are responsible for the large earthquakes (M~7) that have occurred in this region as the seismic sequences of 1783 in southern Calabria and of 1693 in eastern Sicily, and the 1905 (Monteleone) and 1908 (Messina) earthquakes. These events were caused by slip on 30-40 km long normal fault segments located mainly offshore that also generated the largest tsunamis ever in southern Italy.