A statistical analysis is applied to the sequence of earthquakes, with epicentral intensity I0≥VIII MSK, which occurred in the Calabro-Peloritan Arc region (southern Italy) during the period 1600--1974. The study reveals, by the application of the Poisson test, an evident level of interdependence of the shocks which appear grouped in temporal clusters satisfying the simple Poisson process. In fact, the equations which characterize the generalized Poisson process give a good fit of the observed data, the distribution of the events in the clusters being of the Pareto type (discrete). The values 0.9 and 2.8 have been found for k' and E parameters, which are the average number of clusters occurring in unit time and the parameter of the Pareto distribution, respectively. A subsequent elaboration of these results makes the calculation of some quantities, like the clustering length, possible. Finally, a statistical interpretation of the sequence, with the characterization of the clusters, is proposed.