The Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block is traditionally viewed as a region of notoriously low seismicity. Earthquake catalogs report only three moderate earthquakes in the range of magnitudes 5.0–5.1. The scarcity of documented seismicity in the region does not allow for the reliable assessment of the seismic hazard. In this paper, we make an attempt to evaluate the seismic potential of the Corsica–Sardinia region employing the morphostructural zoning (MSZ) that allows for the identification of locations of potential earthquakes. The MSZ delineates the hierarchical system of morphostructural blocks, the network of lineaments bounding the blocks, and the loci of nodes formed around intersections of lineaments. Nodes are treated as earthquake controlling structures. We have used the existing criteria of seismicity defined earlier for seismogenic (M5+) nodes in Iberia and the Western Alps with the goal to identify seismogenic nodes capable of generating earthquakes M5+ in the Corsica–Sardinia block. We test the criteria of seismicity for these regions relying on modern models of the Mediterranean geodynamics that view the eastern margin of Iberia and Provence adjacent to the Western Alps as locations of the Corsica–Sardinia block before drifting. Due to a common tectonic evolution the structure of the Corsica–Sardinia block is roughly similar in the basic features to the structural setting of Iberia and southern France. Out of the 81 nodes delineated by MSZ (deliberately ignoring the available earthquake catalogue) we identify 24 nodes capable of earthquakes M5+ using the criteria of seismicity defined for Iberia. Nodes hosting three documented M5+ earthquakes are assigned to seismogenic ones and most of the nodes accommodating smaller events with magnitudes 4.0–4.9 are also classified as seismogenic by pattern recognition. Applying the criteria of seismicity defined for the Western Alps, we have properly identified only two nodes hosting the documented M5+ earthquakes and missed practically all the nodes with smaller events. The performed analysis reveals that the criteria of seismicity defined for Iberia are more pertinent for the identification of seismogenic nodes in Corsica–Sardinia, because they recognize as seismogenic the nodes marked by documented earthquakes. Our study suggests that the seismic potential of the Corsica–Sardinia block can be specified as low-to-moderate. The defined locations of seismogenic nodes provide key information for knowledgeable long-term seismic hazard assessment of the region.

科西嘉岛-撒丁岛岩石圈块体传统上被视为地震活动性极低的地区。地震目录仅报告了 5.0-5.1 级范围内的 3 次中等地震。该地区缺乏记录在案的地震活动，因此无法对地震危险进行可靠的评估。在本文中，我们尝试使用形态结构分区 (MSZ) 来评估科西嘉-撒丁岛地区的地震潜力，该分区允许识别潜在地震的位置。MSZ 描绘了形态结构块的层次系统、围绕块的线状网络以及线状交叉点周围形成的节点轨迹。节点被视为地震控制结构。我们使用了早先为伊比利亚和西阿尔卑斯山的发震 (M5+) 节点定义的现有地震活动标准，目的是确定能够在科西嘉-撒丁岛地块中产生 M5+ 地震的发震节点。我们根据地中海地球动力学的现代模型测试了这些地区的地震活动标准，这些模型将靠近西阿尔卑斯山的伊比利亚和普罗旺斯的东缘视为漂移前科西嘉-撒丁岛地块的位置。由于共同的构造演化，科西嘉-撒丁岛地块的结构在基本特征上与伊比利亚和法国南部的构造环境大致相似。在 MSZ 描绘的 81 个节点中（故意忽略可用的地震目录），我们使用为 Iberia 定义的地震活动性标准确定了 24 个能够发生 M5+ 地震的节点。承载三个记录在案的 M5+地震的节点被指定为发震的，而大多数容纳 4.0-4.9 级较小事件的节点也被模式识别归类为发震的。应用为西阿尔卑斯山定义的地震活动性标准，我们仅正确识别出两个发生记录在案的 M5+ 地震的节点，而实际上错过了所有发生较小事件的节点。进行的分析表明，为伊比利亚定义的地震活动标准更适合于识别科西嘉-撒丁岛的地震节点，因为他们认为有记录的地震标记的节点是地震发生的。我们的研究表明，科西嘉-撒丁岛地块的地震潜力可以被指定为低到中等。已定义的发震节点位置为对该地区知识渊博的长期地震危险性评估提供了关键信息。