Seismic quiescence preceding the 2016 central Italy earthquakes

•Seismicity preceding the central Italy seismic sequence is analyzed using RTL method.•The earthquake sequence occurred in a seismic gap.•The Amatrice quake was preceded by a quiescence that lasted for about 1 year.•The quiescence extends in a broad region, in large part filled by the aftershocks.

A complex multiple mainshocks sequence (24/08/2016, Mw 6.0; 26/10/2016, Mw 5.4 and 5.9; 30/10/2016, Mw 6.5) occurred in central Italy, causing the death of nearly 300 people and widespread destruction of entire villages. The Region-Time-Length (RTL) method is used to analyze the seismicity preceding the first Mw 6.0 Amatrice mainshock. This analysis is performed using the earthquake catalogue maintained by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) after a preprocessing, which includes the declustering of aftershocks. A well-evident quiescence that preceded the sequence was detected. The quiescence extended throughout a broad region north of the epicenter. The largest event of the sequence and the aftershocks covered most of the quiescence region, except for a small area to the west. The quiescence started from the beginning of September 2015 and lasted for approximately 1 year up to the Amatrice mainshock.