Many areas of the Earth’s crust deform by distributed extensional faulting and complex fault interactions are often observed. Geodetic data generally indicate a simpler picture of continuum deformation over decades but relating this behaviour to earthquake occurrence over centuries, given numerous potentially active faults, remains a global problem in hazard assessment. We address this challenge for an array of seismogenic faults in the central Italian Apennines, where crustal extension and devastating earthquakes occur in response to regional surface uplift. We constrain fault slip-rates since ~18 ka using variations in cosmogenic³⁶Cl measured on bedrock scarps, mapped using LiDAR and ground penetrating radar, and compare these rates to those inferred from geodesy. The³⁶Cl data reveal that individual faults typically accumulate meters of displacement relatively rapidly over several thousand years, separated by similar length time intervals when slip-rates are much lower, and activity shifts between faults across strike. Our rates agree with continuum deformation rates when averaged over long spatial or temporal scales (10⁴ yr; 10² km) but over shorter timescales most of the deformation may be accommodated by <30% of the across-strike fault array. We attribute the shifts in activity to temporal variations in the mechanical work of faulting.

Surface slip distributions for an active normal fault in central Italy have been measured using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), in order to assess the impact of changes in fault orientation and kinematics when modelling subsurface slip distributions that control seismic moment release. The southeastern segment of the surface trace of the Campo Felice active normal fault near the city of L'Aquila was mapped and surveyed using techniques from structural geology and using TLS to define the vertical and horizontal offsets of geomorphic slopes since the last glacial maximum (15±3ka). The fault geometry and kinematics measured from 43 sites and throw/heave measurements from geomorphic offsets seen on 250 scarp profiles were analysed using a modification of the Kostrov equations to calculate the magnitudes and directions of horizontal principal strain-rates. The map trace of the studied fault is linear, except where a prominent bend has formed to link across a former left-stepping relay-zone. The dip of the fault and slip direction are constant across the bend. Throw-rates since 15±3ka decrease linearly from the fault centre to the tip, except in the location of the prominent bend where higher throw rates are recorded. Vertical coseismic offsets for two palaeo earthquake ruptures seen as fresh strips of rock at the base of the bedrock scarp also increase within the prominent bend. The principal strain-rate, calculated by combining strike, dip, slip-direction and post 15±3ka throw rate, decreases linearly from the fault centre towards the tip; the strain-rate does not increase across the prominent fault bend. The above shows that changes in fault strike, whilst having no effect on the principal horizontal strain-rate, can produce local maxima in throw-rates during single earthquakes that persist over the timescale of multiple earthquakes (15±3ka). Detailed geomorphological and structural characterisation of active faults is therefore a critical requirement in order to properly define fault activity for the purpose of accurate seismic hazard assessment. We discuss the implications of modelling subsurface slip distributions for earthquake ruptures through inversion of GPS, InSAR and strong motion data using planar fault approximations, referring to recent examples on the nearby Paganica fault that ruptured in the Mw 6.3 2009L'Aquila Earthquake