Modeling of ALOS and COSMO-SkyMed satellite data at Mt Etna: Implications on relation between seismic activation of the Pernicana fault system and volcanic unrest

We investigate the displacement induced by the 2–3 April 2010 seismic swarm (the largest event being of Ml 4.3 magnitude) by means of DInSAR data acquired over the volcano by the Cosmo-SkyMed and ALOS radar systems. Satellite observations, combined with leveling data, allowed us to perform a high-resolution modeling inversion capable of fully capturing the deformation pattern and identifying the mechanism responsible for the PFS seismic activation. The inversion results well explain high gradients in the radar line of sight displacements observed along the fault rupture. The slip distribution model indicates that the fault was characterized by a prevailing left-lateral and normal dip–slip motion with no fault dilation and, hence, excludes that the April 2010 seismic swarm is a response to accommodate the stress change induced by magma intrusions, but it is due to the tectonic loading possibly associated with sliding of the eastern flank of the volcano edifice. These results provide a completely different scenario from that derived for the 22 September 2002 M3.7 earthquake along the PFS, where the co-seismic shear-rupture was accompanied by a tensile mechanism associated with a first attempt of magma intrusion that preceded the lateral eruption occurred here a month later. These two opposite cases provide hints into the behavior of the PFS between quiescence and unrest periods at Etna and pose different implications for eruptive activity prediction and volcano hazard assessment. The dense pattern of ground deformation provided by integration of data from short revisiting time satellite missions, together with refined modeling for fault slip distribution, can be exploited at different volcanic sites, where the activity is controlled by volcano-tectonic interaction processes, for a timely evaluation of the impending hazards.

► ALOS and CSK data integration constrains spatiotemporal extent of deformation at Etna.
► DInSAR and leveling data were combined with a high-resolution modeling inversion.
► We provide a reliable modeling-based assessment of coseismic deformation.
► Modeling approach elucidated the mechanism responsible for the PFS seismic activation.
► PFS behavior between quiescence and unrest periods at Etna is discriminated.