The Umbria-Marche region in central Italy experienced a sequence of shallow earthquakes in late 1997, including three mainshocks on September 26th (Ms 5.5 and 5.9) and October 14th (Ms 5.5). This seismic sequence illustrates the relationships between small-scale active faults and moderate-magnitude earthquakes. We suggest that a small-scale active fault corresponds to a fault fragment and that it refers to the fault area required for producing a coseismic deformation at the ground surface. The seismic activity and related three mainshocks occurred along three fault fragments which total ~25 km in length and show a listric geometry at depth. Fault fragments are laterally controlled by pre-existing transverse fold-and-thrust structures and may constitute a major component of the seismic strain release in active continental regions. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union