Moment tensor solutions of recent earthquakes in the Calabrian region (south Italy)

The aim of this study is to provide moment tensor solutions for recent events occurred in the Calabrian region (South Italy), an area struck by several destructive earthquakes in the last centuries. The seismicity of the area under investigation is actually characterized by low to moderate magnitude earthquakes (up to 4.5) not properly represented in the Italian national catalogues of focal mechanisms like RCMT (Regional Centroid Moment Tensor, Pondrelli et al., PEPI, 2006) and TDMT (Time Domain Moment Tensors, Dreger and Helmerger, BSSA, 1993). Also, the solutions estimated from P-onset polarities are often poorly constrained due to network geometry in the study area. We computed the moment tensor solutions using the “Cut And Paste” method originally proposed by Zhao and Helmerger (BSSA, 1994) and later modified by Zhu and Helmerger (BSSA, 1996). Each waveform is broken into the Pnl and surface wave segments and the source depth and focal mechanisms are determined using a grid search technique. The technique allows time shifts between synthetics and observed data in order to reduce dependence of the solution on the assumed velocity model and earthquake locations. This method has shown to provide good-quality solutions for earthquakes of magnitude as small as 2.5. The data set of the present study consists of waveforms from more than 100 earthquakes that were recorded by the permanent seismic network run by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) and about 40 stations of the NSF CAT/SCAN project. The results concur to check and better detail the regional geodynamic model assuming subduction of the Ionian lithosphere beneath the Tyrrhenian one and related response of the shallow structures in terms of normal and strike-slip faulting seismicity.peer-reviewe