The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia is a large research institute with more than 600 employees. The activities carried out are research in geosciences and environmental monitoring. Research topics include: seismology, geodynamics, tectonics, volcanology, rock mechanics, geomagnetism, aeronomy and climate modification. For the monitoring, the Institute manages the national seismic networks comprising more than 100 seismic stations, one of the largest and most efficient ones in the World; it is also in charge of the MEDNET, a leading European broad-band seismic network for high quality recording and analysis of earthquakes in the Mediterranean area. The Institute is also in charge of the multidisciplinary surveillance network of Italian volcanoes. The principal target of the INGV is to evaluate the natural risks associated with geophysical systems and for this reason it is founded partly by civil protection agencies. It has continuous exchange of expertise and cooperation with leading Institutions in Europe and in the world. INGV developed in the last years experimental facilities and infrastructures for the study of physical properties of rocks and magmas.

Team Leader: Patrizia Tosi took her doctor’s degree in geological sciences at the University of Rome Sapienza in 1989, then she became a researcher at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, where she is now senior researcher. Her activity was mainly dedicated to the collection and study of the macroseismic effects and to the statistical analysis of the seismic catalogues. In the first topic she has worked on the construction of the macroseismic field and on the modeling of the heard seismic sound heard by the population. In the second topic, the seismicity studies aimed to the characterization of the seismogenic sources and their behaviour in time. Her major interest focus on the application of the fractal geometry to the spatial distribution of epicenters and time occurrences of earthquakes and on the study of the seismic sequence.

Additional participants

Valerio De Rubeis: Education: Laurea in Geological Sciences, University of Rome La Sapienza (1988). Position held: Geochemical data analyser at RIMIN, ENI Group, Italy (1989-1990); research fellow at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV, Italy (1990-1992); research scientist at INGV (1992-2003); senior research scientist at INGV (2003-present). Scientific contribution: analysis of macroseismic data: development of statistical methods and their application; seismotectonics: assessing statistical relations between seismicity and geological-geophysical settings in Italy; scale invariance in Seismology: quantification of fractal behaviour of seismicity in space and time, development of a method for seismic signal detection involving fractal analysis.

Sergio Vinciguerra: My research interests are mainly related to volcanoes seismology and rock physics and mechanics applied to seismic and volcanic environments. My recent work focussed on rock deformation laboratory experiments focussing on propagation of dykes and hydrofractures by monitoring related seismic signals (velocity measurements and microseismicity). I also extensively worked on physical and mechanical properties of volcanic rocks with relation to studies of seismic tomographies and pre-eruptive deformation and seismic patterns in active tectonic and volcanic areas. I am currently setting up a rock deformation laboratory at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Rome (Italy) and working on: mechanical properties of rocks (Etna basalt, Colli Albani Tuff, Evaporites, Dolomites and volcanoes carbonatic basements), time dependent deformation, seismic signals during melt flow and magma emplacement, seismic and textural anisotropy of Stromboli lava flow.

Silvio Mollo: He did his M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. (2008) at the University of Rome “Roma Tre”. During his academic education he developed a strong interest in experimental volcanology to better understand interaction processes between magmas and the crust. Actually he hold a postdoc position as contract researcher to develop a new high-temperature uniaxial press apparatus at the INGV HP-HT laboratory of Rome. He use analytical and experimental techniques to investigate the chemical and physical modifications of magmas and rocks. He is interested in constraining the magma/crust interactions in order to better understand crystal/melt reaction, crystal size distribution, critical cooling rate, glass forming abilities, storage time and the rates of crustal deformation induced by magmatic processes.

Paola Sbarra: She got a degree in Geological Sciences at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 2001. She obtained her PhD in Earth Science at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 2005. Since the august 1, 2007 she works as Researcher at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). Her researches concern statistical analysis of the seismic catalogues and macroseismic data, quantitative Geomorphology of drainage basins and Geomorphological Hazards.