Using template matching and GPS data, we investigate the evolution of seismicity and observable deformation in Central Apennines. Seismicity appears more persistent at the base of the seismogenic layer than in the shallower crust. Diffuse activity is reported on segments at depth, alternating along strike with apparent quiescence on segments that experienced one or more Mw6+ earthquakes in 1997, 2009 and 2016. Central Apennines are likely underlain by a sizeable shear zone with areas of diffuse seismicity bounding shallow normal faults where Mw6+ earthquakes occurred. The deformation observed at the surface seems to follow the seismicity variations at the base of seismogenic layer along the Apenninic chain. Principal and independent component analysis of GPS data exhibits a transient when the 2016 foreshock sequence starts. This transient propagated northward from the Campotosto fault up to the Alto Tiberina fault system and has likely loaded the Mw6+ 2016 earthquake sequence.

The Alto Tiberina normal fault (ATF) in Central Italy is a 50 km long crustal structure that dips at a low angle (15-20◦). Events on the fault plane are about ten times less frequent than those located in its shallower syn- and antithetic hanging-wall splays. To enhance ATF catalogue and achieve a better understanding of the degree of coupling in the fault system, we apply a template matching technique in the 2010-2014 time window. We augment by a factor 5 the detections and decrease the completeness magnitude to negative values. Contrary to what previously observed on ATF, we highlight intermittent seismic activity and long-lasting clusters interacting with sequences on the shallower splays. One of these episodes of prolonged seismic activity, detected at the end of 2013 on a 30 km long ATF segment, suggest the ATF active role during an aseismic transient unravelled by geodetic data.