Earthquake Information Brief Dec 2013

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Commander, Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy

29 December 2013 Earthquake Steve Ursell Installation Training Officer DSN: 626-3948 E-mail: Steven.Ursell@eu.navy.mil


Overview • Briefing purpose. • Richter and Mercalli scale discussion. • Recent Italian earthquakes. • Attenuation. • Earthquake sensor locations. • (Vesuvius) sensor locations. • Vesuvius sensors screen grabs. • 29 Dec 2013 and 23 Nov 1980 Irpinia earthquakes compared. • Helpful links.


Purpose • Provide introduction to earthquakes. • Increase situational awareness. • Make available handy links to important information. • This briefing is informational in nature, not a decision brief.


Richter and Mercalli Scale Discussion • Richter Scale: • Logarithmic. • A level 6 earthquake is 10 times bigger than a level 5 earthquake. • A level 7 earthquake is 100 times bigger than a level 5 earthquake. • Richter scale ratings are determined soon after an earthquake.

• Mercalli Scale: • Subjective interpretations. • A low intensity earthquake (II) is one in which only some people feel the vibration and there is no significant property damage. • The highest rating (XII) is applied to earthquakes in which structures are destroyed, the ground is cracked and landslides are initiated. • Mercalli ratings can't be determined until investigators have had time to talk to many eyewitnesses to find out what occurred during the earthquake. • Online reporting: http://www.haisentitoilterremoto.it/xml-server.php

• Richter Scale magnitude comparison calculator. • http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/calculator.php/


Recent Italian Earthquakes • Over the past 31 years. • 150,000+ recorded earthquakes. • Most not been felt by the population.

• 50+ greater than 5.0. • Large orange circles.

• 29 Dec 2013 located at white star.

• Earthquake Risk • Purple is the area at most risk. • 10% probability of exceeding normalized standard within 50 years.

• Naples is at low risk.


Attenuation (USGS Graphics) Quake begins Station 1 Quake begins near Station 1

Station 1 Registers quake

Station 2 registers quake

Quake registers at Station 2


INGV Earthquake Sensor Locations

29 Dec 2013.


(Vesuvius) Sensor Locations SGG STH BAC OC9

The Vesuvius observatory maintains its own sensor network.

OVO BKE


Vesuvius Sensors 1700-2100L, 29 Dec 2013 SGG Maltese

OC9 Ischia

OVO Vesuvio

BKE Vesuvio


Earthquakes Compared •

29 Dec 2013 (1808L). •

Richter scale. • •

• • • • • •

40 miles from Capo. Recorded by Vesuvius sensors. No damage reported in Naples. San Gregorio Matese water interrupted (near epicenter). Multiple localities reported minor damage to historical buildings. Aftershocks within 24-hours. • •

Italian (INGV): 4.9. U.S. (USGS): 5.2.

Magnitude > 2: 55. Magnitude > 3: 6.

23 Nov 1980 Irpinia. • • •

Richter scale: 6.89. 50 miles from Capo. Destroyed buildings in Naples.

Irpinia earthquake was 1000 times stronger than the 29 Dec 2013 earthquake.


Helpful Links (Active in Presentation Mode) • Data resources. • INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia). • Homepage. http://www.ov.ingv.it/ov/index.php

• Vesuvius area sensor output (see sensor location map). http://portale.ov.ingv.it/webdata/segnali_rt.asp?loc=Pozzuoli&IdMap=3&sta=STH&comp=V&A=2.82&B=0 &C=-2.46&t=GMT&id=6

• Campi Flegrei report (Comunicati e Bollettini settimanali). http://www.ov.ingv.it/ov/en/campi-flegrei.html

• USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) earthquake listing. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

• Listing of over 40 world-wide live seismograms. http://sismic.iec.cat/earthquakes/live_seismograms.html

• Protezione Civile. http://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/jcms/

• Want to report your experience? http://www.haisentitoilterremoto.it/xml-server.php Tip: Pasting Italian language links into Google translate provides a rough English language version of the text.


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