Natural disasters, from time to time overtaking civilization, in most cases cause irreparable harm and lead to human casualties. Despite the progress of science and technology, mankind has not only not yet learned how to control natural phenomena, but also cannot guarantee to predict them. These disasters include a series of earthquakes that have recently occurred in northern Italy.
In the second half of May 2012, a series of strong tremors occurred in northern Italy. The disaster mostly affected the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, but an earthquake of May 20 with a magnitude of 5.9 was felt on almost the entire northern part of the Apennine Peninsula and led the Italian population to panic.
Tremors in Italy indicate the manifestation of new geological processes throughout the region. A slightly smaller increase in seismic activity at the same time was noted in the south of the country, according to ITAR-TASS.
The observer of the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera Giovanni Caprara notes that periodic earthquakes in Italy are forcing scientists to look for the causes of natural phenomena in the earth's crust and find new ways to predict seismic phenomena. The result of the joint work of scientists should be an updated map of seismic hazard zones.
Specialists from the National Institute of Volcanology and Geophysics of Italy believe that the Padan Lowland affected by the elements has long attracted their attention, but the statistics for the timely prediction of earthquakes are still insufficient and not very accurate, since a qualified forecast requires years of observation.
Geophysicists believe that the series of tremors that have passed through the country are the norm characteristic of the so-called "cluster" earthquakes. After the first push, underground disturbances arise, which leads to unpredictable rock movements.
As the main cause of the earthquake that befell the northern part of Italy, a version is put forward that the African tectonic plate is pressing on the Eurasian plate. In this case, the densest rocks of the northern part of the African plate break off and move into the thickness of the earth's mantle. Not only northern but also southern Italian regions, including Sicily, are at risk of seismic activity. Such deep and hidden from our eyes global geological processes lead to recurring earthquakes.
International researchers hope that the evidence regarding changes in the movement of lithospheric plates will allow in the near future to build high-quality forecasts of seismic activity in the Mediterranean region.
