The 1980 Irpinia earthquake ( it, Terremoto dell'Irpinia) took place in Italy on 23 November 1980, with a

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 6.9 and a maximum

Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

of X (''Extreme''). It left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, and 250,000 homeless.

Event

The quake struck at 18:34 UTC (19:34

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...

), centered on the village of

Castelnuovo di Conza Castelnuovo di Conza is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , dem ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

, Southern Italy. The first jolt was followed by 90

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s. There were three main shocks, each with

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

s in a different place, within 80 seconds. The largest shock registered a peak acceleration of 0.38g, with 10 seconds of motion greater than 0.1g. The three main shocks combined produced 70 seconds of shaking greater than 0.01g. Thus the shaking was severe and lasted a long time. Towns in the

province of Avellino The Province of Avellino ( it, Provincia di Avellino) is a province in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The area is characterized by numerous small towns and villages scattered across the province; only two towns have a population over 20, ...

were hit the hardest. In

Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It has been a historical spot of significance in mezzogiorno history. Information Geography Just on a hilltop near the Fredano ...

, 300 were killed, including 27 children in an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...

, and eighty percent of the town was destroyed and many historical buildings were left in ruins as the town never fully recovered as of 2021. One hundred were killed in

Balvano Balvano ( Lucano: ) is a small city and a ''commune'' in the province of Potenza (Basilicata, southern Italy). The recent history of Balvano is connected to several catastrophes. In 1944, a steam train stalled in a nearby railway tunnel, suffoc ...

when a medieval church collapsed during Sunday services. The towns of

Lioni Lioni is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. Located in western Irpinia, in the Monti Picentini natural park, the municipality borders with Bagnoli Irpino, Calabritto, Caposele, Morra De Sanctis, Nusc ...

Conza della Campania Conza della Campania (or Conza di Campania; formerly called Compsa, commonly known as Conza (Campanian: )) is a '' comune'' (municipality) and former Latin Catholic (arch)bishopric in the province of Avellino in the region of Campania in souther ...

(near the epicenter), and

Teora Teora is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region of southern Italy. Geography Teora is bordered by the towns of Caposele, Conza della Campania, Lioni and Morra De Sanctis. History The origin of the v ...

were destroyed, and dozens of structures in Naples were levelled, including a 10-story apartment building. Damage was spread over more than 26,000 km², including Naples and Salerno.

Rebuilding

The

Italian government The government of Italy is in the form of a democratic republic, and was established by a constitution in 1948. It consists of legislative, executive, and judicial subdivisions, as well as a Head of State, or President. The Italian Constitutio ...

spent 59 trillion lire on reconstruction, while other nations sent contributions. West Germany contributed 32 million United States dollars (USD) and the United States US$70 million. However, in the early 1990s a major

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

scandal emerged. Of the billions of lire that were earmarked for aid to the victims and rebuilding, the largest part disappeared from the earthquake reconstruction funds in the 1980s. Of the $40 billion spent on earthquake reconstruction, an estimated $20 billion went to create an entirely new social class of millionaires in the region, $6.4 billion went to the

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

, whereas another $4

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. *1,000,000,000,000, i.e. ...

went to

politicians A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in bribes. Only the remaining $9.6

, a quarter of the total amount, was actually spent on people's needs. The

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

entered the

construction industry Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and c ...

after the quake.

Footnotes

External links

INGV - sismica Map

Memory and Images Earthquake 1980

INGV page on the earthquake
!-- Click on Comm. for more details --> * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irpinia Earthquake, 1980 1980 disasters in Italy 1980 earthquakes 1980 in Italy 20th century in Campania Disasters in Campania Earthquakes in Italy Guardia Lombardi November 1980 events in Europe Province of Avellino

Event

Rebuilding

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

External links