| Summary: | It is widely recognized that since the Early–Middle Pleistocene, the Messina zone, the site of strong earthquakes, has undergone extension, but the geodynamic context which determined this deformation is still a matter of debate. This work suggests that such a tectonic event was caused by the interaction of northern Calabria with the continental Adriatic domain. The suture of that consuming boundary produced major changes in the microplate mosaic and the related kinematic pattern in the Southern Italian zones, which was triggered by the activation of the Sibari and Vulcano faults. In the new context, the Peloritani belt sector, dragged by the Hyblean block, rotated clockwise and then moved northward, causing its divergence from southern Calabria. The normal faults which have accommodated that separation may be the main seismogenic source in the Messina Strait.
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