Reappraising the 25 February 1695 Asolano Earthquake

Abstract The 1695 Mw 6.4 Asolano earthquake is the southernmost of the six largest earthquakes to have occurred in northeast Italy or nearby (the others being 1348 Mw 6.6 Eastern Alps; 1511 Mw 6.3 Friuli-Slovenia; 1873 Mw 6.2 Alpago-Cansiglio; 1936 Mw 6.1 Alpago-Cansiglio; 1976 Mw 6.4 Friuli). The 1695 earthquake is generally associated with the Montello thrust, with most recent studies locating it on the eastern slope of Montello Hill. A full-scale reappraisal of all available historical data leads this study to a more robust macroseismic localization of the 1695 earthquake and to open toward other possible locations of the seismic source that produced it. In particular, it becomes feasible to place its epicenter at the foothills of the Monte Grappa massif, the major morphological expression of the Bassano–Valdobbiadene thrust fault. Here, we describe the reasons that make this fault a possible alternative to previous hypotheses.