Following a detailed morphotectonic analysis of the fluvial terraces of the Sauro River (Basilicata, southern Italy), the present research documents for the first time the late Quaternary tectonic activity of the Scorciabuoi Fault and discusses its inferred seismogenic potential. On the basis of both remote sensing techniques and detailed field investigations, four fill terraces have been recognized and mapped along the Sauro Valley showing differential cumulative displacements across the fault. These terraces are genetically correlated with four highstand sea level periods. Following stratigraphic and geological age constraints and on the basis of the correlation with a sequence of marine and fluvial terraces characterizing the lower Agri Valley, the Sauro terraces likely formed between 80 (or 100) ka and Present. The inferred long‐term slip rate of the Scorciabuoi Fault ranges between 0.5 and 1.0 mm/a. Numerical simulations based on a crustal elastic deformation model also contribute to separate and tentatively quantify the regional uplift rate (∼1.0–1.4 mm/a) and to improve the overall reconstruction of the late Quaternary evolution of the area. The synergic but distinct roles played by eustatism, regional uplift, and faulting are eventually appreciated.

The Scorciabuoi Fault is one of the major tectonic structures affecting the Southern Apennines, Italy. Across its central sector, we performed several electrical resistivity tomographies with different electrode spacing (5 and 10 m) and using a multielectrode system with 32 electrodes. All tomographies were acquired with two different arrays, the dipole-dipole and the Wenner-Schlumberger. We also tested the different sensitivity of the two arrays with respect to the specific geological conditions and research goals. Detailed geological mapping and two boreholes were used to calibrate the electrical stratigraphy. In all but one tomography (purposely performed off the fault trace), we could recognise an abrupt subvertical lateral variation of the main sedimentary bodies showing the displacement and sharp thickening of the two youngest alluvial bodies in the hanging-wall block. These features are interpreted as evidence of synsedimentary activity of the Scorciabuoi Fault during Late Pleistocene and possibly as recently as Holocene and allow accurate location of the fault trace within the Sauro alluvial plain.