Seismic Characterization of Medicanes and Mediterranean Storms Through Microseism Analysis
Description:
Microseism is the most continuous seismic signal on Earth and is generated by interactions among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and solid Earth. As a result of its strong relationship with sea state and storm activity, it represents a valuable tool for investigating meteorological phenomena in a climate change context. In this study, supported by the Interreg VI-A Italia–Malta project WAVEGUARD, we analyze the microseism generated by intense meteorological events that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea between November 2011 and February 2023, including 9 Medicanes (Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones) and 4 common storms. Despite their different dynamics, all events produced heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts, storm surges, significant wave heights generally exceeding 3 m, and widespread coastal damage.
The analysis is based on continuous seismic recordings from 104 coastal stations located in Italy, Malta, Greece, and France, together with 15 Etnean stations used for array analysis. We investigate microseism characteristics in terms of spectral content, spatio-temporal amplitude variations, and source locations, tracked using two independent approaches: a grid-search method based on seismic amplitude decay and array techniques. The inferred microseism source locations are compared with storm surge areas derived from hindcast wave data and are consistent for 10 out of 12 analyzed events; the remaining two correspond to weak Medicanes showing no significant microseism amplitude increase. We further characterize the seismic signature of these events using a coherence-based noise analysis and estimate their seismic strength through the Microseism Reduced Amplitude parameter, allowing a clear seismic distinction between Medicanes and common storms. These results demonstrate the potential of microseism as a complementary tool for monitoring Mediterranean meteorological events and highlight the value of historical seismic archives for investigating past extreme weather in a climate change scenario.
Session: New Frontiers in Seismic Observations and Modeling with Innovative Methods and Emerging Data on Earth and Other Planets [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/17/2026
Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: Francesco Panzera
Student Presenter: No
Invited Presentation:
Poster Number: 118
Authors
Alfio Marco Borzì alfiomarco.borzi@unict.it University of Catania |
Francesco Panzera Presenting Author Corresponding Author francesco.panzera@unict.it University of Catania |
Vittorio Minio vittorio.minio@ingv.it National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology |
Raphael de Plaen raphael.deplaen@oma.be Royal Observatory of Belgium |
Thomas Lecocq thomas.lecocq@seismology.be Royal Observatory of Belgium |
Flavio Cannavò flavio.cannavo@ingv.it National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology |
Giuseppe Ciraolo giuseppe.ciraolo@community.unipa.it University of Palermo |
Sebastiano D'Amico sebastiano.damico@um.edu.mt University of Malta |
Carlo Lo Re carlo.lore@isprambiente.it Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research |
Carmelo Monaco cmonaco@unict.it University of Catania, Catania, , Italy |
Marco Picone marco.picone@isprambiente.it Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Rome, , Italy |
Giovanni Scardino giovanni.scardino@uniba.it University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, , Italy |
Giovanni Scicchitano giovanni.scicchitano@uniba.it University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, , Italy |
Andrea Cannata andrea.cannata@unict.it University of Catania, Catania, , Italy |
Seismic Characterization of Medicanes and Mediterranean Storms Through Microseism Analysis
Category
New Frontiers in Seismic Observations and Modeling with Innovative Methods and Emerging Data on Earth and Other Planets