Comment on “The May 20 (MW 6.1) and 29 (MW 6.0), 2012, Emilia (Po Plain, Northern Italy) earthquakes: New seismotectonic implications from subsurface geology and high-quality hypocenter location” by Carannante et al., 2015

Abstract

Carannante et al. (2015) proposed an original seismotectonic interpretation of the Ferrara arc in the Po Plain (Italy) based on an accurate hypocenter relocation of the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence and on structural analyses of sub-surface data. They contend that the causative faults of the 2012 sequence do not belong to the fold-and-thrusts system comprising the Ferrara Arc but in fact are located in the underlying basement. In our view this interpretation does not agree with observations, including: 1) the structural interpretation of the seismic reflection lines, that contrasts with some of the available data, e.g. the stratigraphy inferred from deep wells; 2) the seismotectonic setting, that is based exclusively on the correlation between inferred structural features and the location of late aftershocks; and 3) the inconsistency of the proposed seismogenic sources with the elevation changes caused by the sequence. All these points compromise the Carannante et al.’s interpretation and, as a consequence, previously proposed seismotectonic models are still valid.