Weather Events Associated with Strong Earthquakes and Seismic Swarms in Italy

Abstract

This study discusses the possible relationship between potentially destructive seismic events, earthquake swarms, and intense weather events occurring in the same epicentral zone at time intervals ranging from one day to a few weeks. The objective of the present study is, therefore, to analyze the interaction between the lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere in order to propose, prospectively, a new hydro-climatic model to be applied not only in Italy, where this research was carried out. The study concerns some of the most intense Italian earthquakes starting from 1920, with the destructive event in Lunigiana, in North Western Apennines, until the recent earthquake swarm that hit the Emilia-Romagna region followed, as in the cases analyzed in this research, by strong atmospheric disturbances. The recurrence associating seismic events with atmospheric precipitation allows us to propose some hypotheses about the triggering mechanism. In tectonically stressed areas, during pre-seismic and seismic phases, the release of gases from the ground and electrical charges near active faults is known. It is hypothesized that water condensation nuclei are carried by radon gas on atmospheric gases, also originating from cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere, generated by air ionization.