Quake that battered ancient Rome is traced to its lair

Nature ^ | February 8, 2019 | Tectonics (2019)

[SunkenCiv]

A fault in the Apennine Mountains wreaked damage on structures including the Colosseum.

The geological fault responsible for a series of Italian earthquakes in 2016 might also have caused a quake mentioned in ancient accounts of fifth-century Rome.

Until 2016, scientists had considered the 30-kilometre-long Mount Vettore fault in the central Apennine Mountains to be dormant. But between August and October that year, it generated three big earthquakes; the first killed nearly 300 people.

To explore the fault’s history, a team led by Paolo Galli at the Department of Civil Protection in Rome dug trenches across it to look for soil disturbances caused by past earthquakes. The researchers found evidence of 6 big quakes in the past 9,000 years.

One of those probably occurred in the middle of the fifth century AD. It could be the same earthquake that, according to medieval historians, damaged the Colosseum and other buildings in Rome in AD 443.

On average, the Mount Vettore fault has generated quakes greater than magnitude 6.5 every 1,800 years. In retrospect, the authors write, the 2016 earthquakes shouldn’t have been so surprising.

[SunkenCiv]

Mount Vettore

[Robert A Cook PE]

Yeppers, looks like a mountainous fault valley that hasn’t been swept by glaciers. Yet.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Earthquakes are the less talented cousin of a real catastrophe.

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[M Kehoe]

Trump’s fault.

Balcones fault was Bush’s fault.

My only fault is rambling on about faults.

5.56mm

[Fresh Wind]

It’s Trump’s fault.

[Larry Lucido]

Lteam led by Paolo Galli at the Department of Civil Protection in Rome dug trenches across it to look for soil disturbances caused by past earthquakes. The researchers found evidence of 6 big quakes in the past 9,000 years.

Most surprisingly, researchers found that 5 of the last 6 quakes were caused by researchers digging trenches to look for soil disturbances caused by past quakes.

[mewzilla]

If nobody had trenched it, why did scientists think it was dormant....?

[Grimmy]

The Romans should sue for damages.

[SunkenCiv]

If all the descendants of the citizens of the Roman Empire got involved in a class-action suit... hmm... each share would probably be under five bucks. ;^)

[SunkenCiv]

Because vulcanology is more about feelings than about science.

[Grimmy]

Yeah but...

It’d teach those fault lines a lesson.

[SunkenCiv]

Here in Michigan we have no-fault lines.

[Grimmy]

Meaning if you toe the line you can’t be blamed?

[SunkenCiv]

Around here, we're all cereal killers.

[Grimmy]

LOL!

Ok. It’s official. You win this round.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, your praise bowls me over.

[SunkenCiv]

Yes, I eat up praise with a spoon..

[SunkenCiv]

"Round", so, appropriate that there was boxing involved in that picture.

[SunkenCiv]

Okay, I'll stop now.