As regards the transmission vectors – one of the most
critical points of a seismic network – we adopted a
mixed strategy: half of the stations are connected
through satellite links, and half through cable links.
The use of satellite transmission presents several
advantages: the link is very robust, the constraints
for site selection are weak, and the cost is lower
than telephone lines. As regards the terrestrial cable
links, we use INGV digitizers (named GAIA), protected
IP connections of the Italian Public Administration
Network (RUPA): site selection is more delicate, and a
compromise must be found between low environmental
noise and availability of network infrastructures

Amato, A.

Badiali, L.

Cattaneo, M.

Delladio, A.

Doumaz, F.

Mele, F.

Earth-prints Repository

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70
Italy is one of the most seismically active regions of the Mediterranean, withthousands of earthquakes occurring each year. A glance at an epicentralmap of Italy (figure 1) reveals that most of the country frequently experiences
earthquakes [Chiarabba et al. (2004)], and that only a few regions are relatively
stable, namely Sardinia and the southern part of Puglia. In addition, except for
Sardinia that is located far from major active faults, the entire Italian territory
can also feel the effects of earthquakes occurring in adjacent countries.This explains
why the most recent seismic classification of Italy (2003-2004) includes all of
the 8,101 municipalities.
Although the largest-documented historical earthquakes barely exceed
magnitude 7, moderate shocks of magnitude 6 to 7 can nevertheless produce
extensive damage and fatalities.
In 1980,a M6.9 earthquake struck southern Italy,causing destruction in several towns
and about 3,000 deaths over a large area of the Apennines. The true picture of
what had happened only became clear after several days due to the extent of the
affected area and the inadequateness of the monitoring system. Many steps forward
have been made since then in terms of the rapid evaluation of ground shaking:
The real-time earthquake
monitoring system
in Italy
the real-time earthquake monitoring system in italy
Although earthquakes cannot be
anticipated to avoid disasters, an
efficient and rapid real-time
monitoring system is fundamental
to reducing the loss of human lives
and leading the rescue teams
quickly to the right place. Since
2001, INGV has developed a new
integrated seismic network and
monitoring system, thus drastically
increasing the number and quality
of seismic stations and promoting
the development of new tools for
earthquake location, visualization
and reporting. Response time from
INGV to the Civil Protection
Department (DPC) has improved
from 10-20 minutes to 1-2 minutes.
The present network is also a
powerful tool for scientific research
in earthquake source and structure.
Monitoring room of INGV. The new digital 
system (in front) and the old one (back)
La salle de contrôle de l’INGV : au premier plan, le nouveau
système numérique ; en arrière plan, l’ancien système.
Source : INGV
Alessandro Amato
Director
amato@ingv.it
Lucio Badiali
Chief of the software staff
badiali@ingv.it
Marco Cattaneo
Chief of the National Network
cattaneo@ingv.it
Alberto Delladio
Chief of the Laboratory
delladio@ingv.it
Fawzi Doumaz
GIS developer
doumaz@ingv.it
Francesco Mele
Chief of the Data Center
mele@ingv.it
Centro Nazionale Terremoti
Istituto Nazionale 
di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
71
38
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’0
”
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°0
’0
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48
°0
’0
”
38
°0
’0
”
43
°0
’0
”
48
°0
’0
”
9°0’0” 14°0’0” 19°0’0”
9°0’0” 14°0’0” 19°0’0”
Fig. 1: Seismicity of Italy.
Historical earthquakes of (equivalent)
M>5.5 before 1980 (      ) and
instrumentally located events 
of M>3.5 for the period 1981-2005 
(     = 0-35 km; = 35-200 km;
= 200-600 km).
Data: Gruppo di Lavoro CPTI (2004)
and Castello et al. (2005)
Fig. 1 : La sismicité de l’Italie.
Sur la carte ont été reportés les séismes
historiques de M(équivalent) > 5,5
avant 1980 (       ), et les événements 
de M > 3,5 localisés à partir
d’enregistrements pour la période 
1981-2005 (     = 0-35 km ;
= 35-200 km ; = 200-600 km).
Données : Gruppo di Lavoro CPTI (2004)
et Castello et al. (2005)
Source: INGV
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06
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“
”
Italy is one of the
most seismically
active regions of 
the Mediterranean,
with thousands 
of earthquakes
occurring each year.
today the first estimate of hypocenter parameters
is available in less than a minute, as described later.
The intense renewal process of the whole Italian
monitoring system started in 2001, mainly thanks
to support from DPC and, for southern Italy, to the
PROSIS project funded by the Ministry of Research.
There were three main objectives:
> speed up and improve the real-time determination
of earthquake parameters;
> lower the detection threshold of the network to
be able to study small earthquakes and accumulate
data useful for hazard evaluation, and possibly for
future earthquake prediction research;
> accumulate high-quality data from broadband seis-
mometers to study the earthquake source, deep
structure and deformation.
We will now present the basic steps involved in
building the new monitoring system, starting from
the network, then the acquisition system and the
GIS-based automatic and interactive information
procedures.
The new italian seismic network
In 2001, the National Seismic Network consisted of
92 short-period, mostly vertical, seismometers,
connected with low dynamic range telephone lines.
The main problems encountered were: difficulty in
computing magnitudes due to saturated signals, large
areas with sparse coverage, slowness of the location
process, unavailability of high-quality data for research
purposes. A strong effort has since been made to solve
these problems and today, the National network
The town of Conza della
Campania (southern Italy)
after the M6.9 earthquake
in 1980.
La ville de Conza della
Campania (Italie du Sud)
après le séisme de 1980 
(de magnitude 6,9)
© INGV
>
72
10°0’0’’E 15°0’0’’E 20°0’0’’E
10°0’0’’E 15°0’0’’E 20°0’0’’E
35°0’0’’N
40°0’0’’N
45°0’0’’N
35°0’0’’N
40°0’0’’N
45°0’0’’N
the real-time earthquake monitoring system in italy
Another recent development in Italian seismic
monitoring is real-time data sharing between
different acquisition centres, both with other Italian
institutions and the surrounding countries. INGV
also manages the Mediterranean very broadband
network MedNet (http://mednet.ingv.it/) whose data
are integrated into the real-time monitoring system.
Current developments include the co-installation of
accelerometers and geodetic GPS instruments at most
of the seismic network sites in order to guarantee
non-saturated waveforms in the event of strong, close
shocks, and to accumulate data for active tectonics
and hazard studies.
The new real-time acquisition system
Since 1984 an automatic system, operating on a
Digital VAX microcomputer, was able to analyze the
signals of the Italian National Seismic Network in
quasi-real-time. This system operated up to about
100 mostly vertical stations connected through
analogue telephone lines. The automatic location of
an earthquake ranged between 4 minutes for small
local earthquakes and about 20 minutes for
earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5. Today, the new
acquisition system operates a complex network of
about 80 vertical and 150 three-component stations
linked through a variety of connections (figure 2).
”
“
consists of more than 200 stations, most of
which are equipped with three-component
broadband sensors, digitized at 24 bits at
the remote site, and connected with either
satellite or telephone links (figure 2).
The main features of the new seismic network
are:
> use of both commercial and INGV-developed
hardware (GAIA digitizers);
> high dynamic range of the whole acquisition
chain;
> broadband of seismic frequencies correctly
recovered;
> robustness of the acquisition system, in
particular that of the transmission;
> real-time data availability.
As regards the transmission vectors – one of the most
critical points of a seismic network – we adopted a
mixed strategy: half of the stations are connected
through satellite links, and half through cable links.
The use of satellite transmission presents several
advantages: the link is very robust, the constraints
for site selection are weak, and the cost is lower
than telephone lines. As regards the terrestrial cable
links, we use INGV digitizers (named GAIA), protected
IP connections of the Italian Public Administration
Network (RUPA): site selection is more delicate, and a
compromise must be found between low environmental
noise and availability of network infrastructures.
A seismic network must operate continuously on a 24-
hour basis: in order to increase the safety of the system,
a high level of redundancy is introduced. For instance,
the signals coming from the stations connected
through satellite links are acquired both in the master
hub of Rome, and in secondary hubs (Grottaminarda
and Catania). In case of failure of the master hub, the
secondary hubs take control of the transmission, and
the data flow to Rome is redirected through cable links.
For the seismic monitoring of Etna and the volcanoes
of the Aeolian Islands, INGV Catania acts as the master
hub and Rome as the backup hub.
Fig.2: The Italian National Seismic Network consists of more
than 200 stations, most of which are equipped with digital 3-
component broadband seismometers, linked in real-time to
the acquisition center in Rome. Note the stations in the
surrounding countries, either belonging to MedNet or to
cooperating institutions, those on the islands and one on the
Ionian sea bed (SN1).
Fig. 2 : Le réseau sismique national italien se compose de plus de
200 stations dont la plupart sont équipées de sismographes à
trois composantes et à large bande passante, transmettant les
données en temps réel vers le centre d’acquisition à Rome. Sont
également à noter les stations dans des pays limitrophes qui
appartiennent à MedNet ou à des organismes coopérants, ainsi
que celles situées dans les îles et une dans les fonds de la mer
Ionienne (SN1).
Source: INGV
>
The large 
number of three-
component
instruments
installed over the
last few years
ensures the fast
computation 
of reliable
magnitudes for 
all earthquakes 
in Italy and its
surrounding
regions.

74
1 000 April-December 2004 Bulletin
April-December 2005 Bulletin
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10
local magnitude classes
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-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
the real-time earthquake monitoring system in italy
SisMap: the real-time mapping system
SisMap was introduced in 2002 to provide those on
24-hour duty at the INGV monitoring center with a
rapid overview of the ongoing seismicity. It is an
interactive application connected in real-time with
the automatic monitoring system so as to receive the
alert as soon as an event is identified. SisMap acts
as a dashboard by running several other applications
to revise seismic waveforms [Bono and Badiali (2004)],
insert data in a relational database, send e-mails,
and update Web pages. SisMap is a GIS application,
suitable for multi-thematic mapping, spatial and
attributes querying, image exporting and printing.
Figure 4 reports three out of six automatically
produced screen shots after a recent small earthquake
in Central Italy. The upper one reports the first
automatic location, determined with the first 12
triggered stations and available after 24 seconds from
the earthquake origin time. In the left panel all the
relevant information is shown, together with the rapid
access to the GIS database, which allows comparison
between ongoing seismicity and previous earthquakes,
mapped faults, geographical and administrative
information, etc.
The second panel shows the third automatic location,
obtained with data from 38 stations 45 seconds after
the origin time, and with the first local magnitude
estimate (3.5±0.3). The lower panel reports the final
automatic location, determined with 62 stations after
2.5 minutes. The local magnitude has now been
recomputed with data from more than 60 horizontal
seismograms (3.3±0.3).
Following this, the personnel on duty at the INGV
center in Rome informs the DPC in three successive
steps, within 2, 5 and 30 minutes, each providing
increasingly accurate information for every potentially
felt earthquake (generally above M2.5).The third step
(<30’) is made after analysis of seismograms and
relocation. Several hundred earthquakes are commu-
nicated every year.
Data are then made available through the Web
(http://www.ingv.it/~roma/webterrNew/last/month.
php) while automatic pickings are sent to national
and international agencies.
In the Mediterranean, a real-time monitoring system
is an important first step for tsunami alert. INGV uses
stations from both the National network, MedNet
and connected networks, to determine locations,
magnitudes and moment tensors. For instance, the
location of the recent M6.8 earthquake in Greece
(8 January 2006) was available only 2 minutes after
earthquake occurrence.Similarly,data for the May 21,2003
earthquake in Algeria (M6.8), which generated a small
tsunami, was available after 2.5 minutes. Real-time
data sharing among countries in the Mediterranean
still has much room for improvement. This is one of
INGV targets for the coming years, also within the
framework of the European Union project “NERIES”,
starting in June 2006.
Fig. 3: Number of earthquakes per magnitude class (0.5 intervals)
recorded over 9 months during 2004 and 2005, i.e. old versus new
network. For every magnitude range, the number of earthquakes
recorded in 2005 is higher than in 2004 (note that the Y axis is
logarithmic). The total number of located earthquakes increased 
by as much as +130%. Small earthquakes are important in mapping
active faults at depth.
Fig. 3 : Nombre de séismes par tranche de 0,5 degré de magnitude,
enregistrés sur une période de neuf mois en 2004 et en 2005,
respectivement par l’ancien et par le nouveau réseau. Dans chaque
gamme de magnitudes, le nombre de séismes en 2005 dépasse celui
de 2004 (N. B. l’axe des ordonnées est logarithmique). Le nombre total
d’événements localisés a augmenté jusqu’à + 130 %. Les petits séismes
sont importants pour cartographier les failles actives en profondeur.
Source: INGV
”
“The number of located events more thandoubled (+130%) in one year due to theimproved capability of the network to locatesmall earthquakes. This is of great importance in
characterizing active faults, particularly in areas
where complex geology tends to conceal them.
>
Le dispositif de surveillance
sismique en temps réel 
en Italie
L’Italie est située dans l’une des
zones sismiques les plus actives 
du bassin méditerranéen. Malgré 
la magnitude modérée des séismes
qui dépasse rarement 7, la grande
vulnérabilité du bâti sur le territoire
italien, édifié pour sa majeure
partie avant l’introduction 
des normes de construction
parasismiques, place l’Italie parmi
les pays à haut risque, même pour
des magnitudes qui avoisinent 6.
La communauté scientifique
internationale a désormais acquis
la conviction que la prédiction 
des événements sismiques à des fins
de protection civile, permettant de
sauver des vies humaines, relève 
de l’impossible. Il est donc impératif,
d’une part, d’investir dans une
politique de prévention efficace
consistant à :
• construire selon les normes
parasismiques,
• renforcer le patrimoine existant,
• éduquer et sensibiliser la population,
et d’autre part de développer un
système de surveillance efficace.
Le premier point a été réévalué 
par la communauté scientifique
nationale, suite au tremblement
de terre d’octobre 2002 du Molise,
et a conduit à l’élaboration d’un
nouveau zonage sismique ainsi 
qu’à des normes de construction
plus rigoureuses.
Pour ce qui concerne le système
de surveillance territorial, l’INGV,
encouragé et financé par le
Département de la Protection
Civile, a entamé depuis 2001 
une phase de mise en œuvre 
et de modernisation du réseau
sismologique national.
De grands efforts ont été déployés
ces dernières années pour la
réalisation d’un système de
surveillance et de détection en
temps réel avec des résultats très
probants. Ces résultats, exprimés 
en terme de rapidité et de précision
de la détermination hypocentrale 
et de la magnitude à travers tout
le territoire italien, sont disponibles
dans les 20 à 60 secondes qui
suivent le tremblement de terre.
References : A. Bono and L. Badiali (2004) – PWL 1.0 Personal Wavelab: an object-oriented workbench for seismogram analysis on Windows systems, Comp.
& Geosc., doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2004.09.010. B. Castello et al. (2005) – CSI Catalogo della sismicità italiana 1981-2002, versione 1.0, INGV-CNT, Roma,
http://www.ingv.it/CSI. C. Chiarabba et al. (2005) – A new view of the Italian seismicity using 20 years of instrumental recordings, Tectonophysics, 395,
pp. 251-268. L. Chiaraluce et al. (2004) – Complex Normal Faulting in the Apennines Thrust-and Fold Belt:The 1997 Seismic Sequence in Central Italy, Bull.
Seism. Soc. Am., 94, pp. 99-116. Gruppo di Lavoro CPTI (2004) – Catalogo parametrico dei Terremoti italiani, versione 2004 (CPTI04). INGV, Bologna.
http://emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI
”“In the Mediterranean, a real-time monitoring systemis an important first step for tsunami alert.
Fig. 4: Three screenshots for a recent
earthquake (13/1/06 10:20 UTC, M3.3)
using SisMap, the automatic GIS-based
tool adopted by INGV to map and revise
earthquake locations.The upper panel
shows the first automatic location, obtained
with 12 triggered stations 24 seconds
after the origin time. The second shows
the third location (38 stations, 45 seconds)
with the first magnitude estimate.
The last one shows the final automatic
location (62 stations, 150 seconds).
Fig. 4 : Trois copies d’écran SisMap, le
logiciel automatique issu du SIG et utilisé
par l’INGV pour cartographier et réviser les
déterminations hypocentrales, relatives à
un séisme récent (13/1/06 10:20 UTC, M 3.3).
En haut, une détermination préliminaire
automatique calculée avec 12 stations
déclenchées, 24 secondes après l’heure
d’origine. Au milieu, la troisième
détermination (après 45 secondes, prenant
en compte 38 stations) avec la première
estimation de magnitude. En bas, la
détermination automatique définitive (après
150 secondes, prenant en compte 62 stations).
Source: INGV
>


The real-time earthquake monitoring system in Italy

http://www.earth-prints.org/bitstream/2122/2574/1/1167.pdf

The real-time earthquake monitoring system in Italy

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