We built six observatory stations in central Italy to monitor a fault potentially capable of generating a strong earthquake. Each site has 80–160 m deep wells equipped with strainmeters and seismometers. At the surface, we placed GNSS antennas and seismic and meteorological sensors. All data, which are open access for the scientific community, will help us to better understand the complex physical and chemical processes that lead to the generation of the full range of slow and fast earthquakes.

The STAR project set out to drill 6 shallow holes and use geophysical logging to figure out the best depth for placing seismometers and strainmeters, to image the upper crust and in particular the Alto Tiberina fault, Italy. These measurements give us a better idea of what the rocks are like, helping us connect what we know from literature with what we find underground, giving solid information on rock properties, which helps understand the first couple hundred meters of the Earth's crust.

Considering all mapped faults in Italy, empirical scaling laws between fault dimensions and earthquake magnitude are used at the national scale. Results are compared with earthquake catalogues. The consistency between our results and the catalogues gives credibility to the method. Some large differences between the two datasets suggest the validation of this experiment elsewhere.

Graphite crystallinity “irreversibly” increases with temperature and it has been calibrated as a thermometer recording peak temperatures experienced by a rock. To examine the possibility of mechanical modifications of graphite structure and the impacts on graphite thermometry we performed deformation experiments. Raman spectroscopy demonstrates a reduction in crystallinity due to mechanical reworking in the brittle field. This finding clearly compromises the validity of the graphite thermometry.

The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia runs the Italian National Seismic Network (about 400 stations, seismometers, accelerometers and GPS antennas) and other networks at national scale for monitoring earthquakes and tsunami as a part of the National Civil Protection System coordinated by the Italian Department of Civil Protection. This work summarises the acquisition and the distribution of the data and the analysis that are carried out for seismic surveillance and tsunami alert.