Distribution and Features of Natural and Anthropogenic Sinkholes in Apulia

Sinkholes, of both natural and anthropogenic origins, represent the main geological hazard in Apulia, a region in southern Italy characterized for most of its extension by soluble rocks, with widespread presence of karst caves and man-made cavities. Occurrence of sinkholes in Apulia is described and analysed in this paper, by using the data extracted from the chronological database of sinkholes, produced by CNRIRPI for the whole Italian territory. It appears that the frequency of documented events strongly increased in the last decades in Apulia, in the aftermath of a series of sinkholes that hit different parts of the region