The central Italian Peninsula is dominated by active extensional tectonics, forming the Apennine Mountains.

One explanation is that slab rollback is occurring within the Adriatic plate as it subducts beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea.

[4] Extensional tectonics in the region have been active since the Pliocene epoch, mainly accommodated by northwest–southeast striking normal faults.

[5] The faults associated with large earthquakes on the peninsula are geologically young in age, and rarely rupture the surface.

Both the foreshock and mainshock occurred at a depth of 8 km, based on waveform analysis,[1] but this result is still controversial and unreliable.

A maximum intensity of IX was assigned in the towns of Melito Irpino, Molinara, Reino, and Sant'Arcangelo Trimonte.

[7] After the earthquakes, there were concerns about the potential for landslides as the shocks had destabilized ground conditions on the nearby hills.