Abstract. This work shows the result of an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey carried out for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface affected by the coseismic effects of the Mw = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy) earthquake that occurred on 20 May 2012. The most characteristic coseismic effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction that occurred extensively along the paleo-Reno River in the urban areas of San Carlo and Mirabello (southwestern portion of Ferrara Province). In total, six electrical resistivity tomographies were performed and calibrated with surface geological surveys, exploratory boreholes and aerial photo interpretations. This was one of first applications of the electrical resistivity tomography method in investigating coseismic liquefaction.