Slip heterogeneity and directivity of the ML 6.0, 2016, Amatrice earthquake estimated with rapid finite-fault inversion

On 24 August 2016 a magnitude ML 6.0 occurred in the Central Apennines (Italy) between Amatrice and Norcia causing nearly 300 fatalities. The main shock ruptured a NNW-SSE striking, WSW dipping normal fault. We invert waveforms from 26 three-component strong motion accelerometers, filtered between 0.02 and 0.5 Hz, within 45 km from the fault. The inferred slip distribution is heterogeneous and characterized by two shallow slip patches updip and NW from the hypocenter, respectively. The rupture history shows bilateral propagation and a relatively high rupture velocity (3.1 km/s). The imaged rupture history produced evident directivity effects both N-NW and SE of the hypocenter, explaining near-source peak ground motions. Fault dimensions and peak slip values are large for a moderate-magnitude earthquake. The retrieved rupture model fits the recorded ground velocities up to 1 Hz, corroborating the effects of rupture directivity and slip heterogeneity on ground shaking and damage pattern.