Photographic collection of the coseismic geological effects originated by the 26th December 2018 Etna (Sicily) earthquake

Abstract

The 26 December 2018 Mw 4.9 earthquake occurred at shallow depth (<1 km) on the eastern flank of Mount Etna and it was the strongest seismic event to hit this volcanic area during the past seventy years. The earthquake caused severe damage up to VIII degree EMS [Quest WG, 2019] and impressive surface faulting effects along the Fiandaca Fault (FF), an important tectonic structure that borders to the south the Timpe tectonic system in the volcano’s eastern flank (Figure 1). The FF runs for about 13 km between Aci Catena to the south and Monte Ilice to the north; the strike of the fault is NNW­SSE in the southern portion and NW­SE in the northern part. The Mw 4.9 earthquake produced surface faulting along a ~8 km­long stretch of the FF. The coseismic ruptures are characterized by dominant right­oblique sense of slip, and affect the agricultural soil, paved and unpaved roads, and artifacts such as walls, pavements and buildings. Starting from 26 December, the Emergeo Working Group (http://emergeo.ingv.it) surveyed the area affected by the earthquake to recognize and map the coseismic effects induced on the natural environment [Emergeo WG, 2019]. The Group collected almost 900 points of observation in the field, including geometry and kinematics of the ruptures along the fault and in the adjacent areas (Figure 1). In this work we present a collection of pictures showing the geological effects produced in the natural or in the built environment by the 2018 Etna earthquake. The selected photographic dataset consists of 65 pictures taken between December 26th and March 26th (see location of the pictures in Figure 2). The photos are presented following a geographical direction from south to north. For each image the caption provides: geographical coordinates, date of the shot, and an explanation of the observed effect.