The paper discusses the seismogenic characteristics of NE Italy related to earthquakes
with Mw≥5.5, and the geometry of the related sources re-drawn by following the DISS
standard procedure. Therefore, this paper represents an update of a previous work
which investigated the Prealpine area between the Lessini Mountains and the Italian-
Slovenian border, and defined the seismogenic sources potentially responsible for
earthquakes with Mw≥6 within the GNDT-2000 project. For inclusion in the DISS, the
sources of that previous work have been processed following a 3-step process, which
is a routine procedure used each time the parameters of a seismogenic source are taken
from published works. The first step was a consistency check of the source dimensions
(aspect ratio, from length/width relationships and according to the fault type), of their
position and geometry (minimum and maximum depth and dip), and of some
seismological parameters of the expected/associated earthquakes (slip, Mw from both
Wells and Coppersmith’s and Hanks and Kanamori’s relationships, and seismic
moment). All these parameters were verified by using the Fault Studio software. The
second step involved the inclusion of seismological information, such as the measured
stress drop, to infer slip on the fault plane and rupture area and to compare these
parameters with the rupture area hypothesised on the basis of the geological
information. The third step of the data processing deals with the analysis of the
intermediate size historical seismicity (5.5≤Mw≤6.0) and the possible association with
faults belonging to the identified active thrust systems of the eastern Southalpine
Chain front or to more internal faults (both thrust and strike-slip faults) not included
in the data set of the previous work.
