Geological hazard in the central Mediterranean area

The present-day tectonic framework of the central Mediterranean area is the result of the Neogene-quaternary geodynamic processes related to the ca. N-S Africa-Europe convergence. This area is currently affected by large earthquakes and by local volcanic activity, mostly related to extensional or oblique-slip tectonics. The main regional feature in the area is a prominent fault belt that runs more or less continuously for a length of about 200km from the central sector of the Aeolian archipelago (Aeolian- Tindari fault system), along the Mount Etna coastline as far as the Hyblean-Malta offshore (Alfeo–Etna and Malta Escarpment fault systems), connecting southwards with the Sicily Channel rift systems.peer-reviewe