Correlation between Seismic and Volcanic Activity at a Large Spatial Scale in Italy: Examples from the Neapolitan Volcanic District (Vesuvius Volcano, Southern Italy)

Abstract

The time correlation between the eruptions of Mt Vesuvius and the occurrence of strong earthquakes in Italy has been revised using new and improved catalogs and data made available in the last decade. It has been shown that this correlation is statistically signifi - cant and involves also the earthquakes located very far from the volcanic edifice (hun dreds of kilometers). In particular, the earthquakes and the Vesuvius’ eruptions agree on a transient of accelerated activity between 1600 and 1900. A similar correlation has been found between the seismicity and the uplift episodes at the nearby Campi Flegrei caldera occurred in the last 70 years: there is strict similarity between the two cycles, the first one centered around 1970–1980 and the second one started on 2004 and still continuing and involving recent strong earthquakes (2009 L’Aquila earthquake, 2012 Emilia earthquake and 2016 Central Italy earthquake). The synchronization to such a long distance has sug- gested the occurrence of large-scale climatic processes controlling both the earthquakes and the volcanism. The comparison with climatic indexes like the global surface tempera- ture and the extension of glaciers in western-central Europe has indicated a possible role of climatic parameters in controlling volcanism and seismicity. caldera, Italian seismicity, event synchronization, Ripley’s K-function