Located in western Abruzzo in central Italy, the town of Avezzano lies to the northwest, Ortucchio to the southeast, and Trasacco to the southwest of the historic lake.

Due to the absence of outlets and the sudden variations in the water level causing floods or unhealthy drying, it was the subject of numerous attempts at regulation.

[2] The Fucine is a large tectonic depression surrounded by normal and transtensional faults active in the upper Pliocene to Quaternary era.

[2] Alluvial-colluvial continental deposits emerge that can be attributed to the Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene, in particular in correspondence with the ancient lake bottom characterized by silty sediments.

The lake also collected, especially in the winter period, the waters of small-flow streams from the Velino-Sirente massif to the north and from the Vallelonga mountains to the south.

The water level of the basin was regulated by the activity of the karst sinkholes, located mainly to the south on the slopes of the mountains such as that of Petogna near Luco dei Marsi.

These fluctuations are attributable partly to karst drainage or tectonic movements affecting the area, but above all to climatic variations such as seasonal changes in precipitation and the degree of insolation, produced by the Earth's orbit (precession of the equinoxes and obliquity of the ecliptic).

Authors such as Pliny the Elder, Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio wrote about drainage projects and subsequent reclamation of emerged lands, demonstrating the importance of this problem.

The Emperor Claudius attempted to control the lake's maximum level by digging a 5.6 km (3.5 mi) drainage tunnel through Monte Salviano.

Once the canal was purged and the locks reopened, a further landslide caused a large return wave that hit the stage where the imperial family was banqueting.

The freedmen Tiberius Claudius Narcissus and Pallante were blamed for these events, who were not architects but rather prefects of the works and it was thought that after spending a good deal less than he had received, he had then purposely contrived the collapse, in order that his wrong-doing might not be detected.

"[11][12] With the inauguration of the work, a regulation of the surface waters was effectively achieved, so much so that the lake basin shrank considerably but was not totally dried up, as some historical sources have reported.

The economy of Marsica and in particular of the municipalities of Alba Fucens, Lucus Angitiae and Marruvium became flourishing and the surrounding mountain areas were elected to all intents and purposes as holiday resorts.

An earthquake on a fault crossing the collecting canal dropped the land on the lake side 30–35 cm (12–14 in) relative to the tunnel entrance.

In the 19th century, the Swiss engineer Jean François Mayor de Montricher was commissioned by the prince Alessandro Torlonia to drain the lake.