Italy Earthquake Of 1980 on:
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The 1980 Irpinia earthquake ( it, Terremoto dell'Irpinia) took place in
The quake struck at 18:34 UTC (19:34
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
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
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
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
.
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 administrat ...
), centered on the village of Castelnuovo di Conza
Castelnuovo di Conza is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwestern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is ...
, Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
. 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 20,0 ...
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 education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
, 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, suffoca ...
when a medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
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, Nusco ...
, 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
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and Salerno
Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
.
Rebuilding
TheItalian 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
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
contributed 32 million United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s (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
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
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 Can ...
, 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 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 ...
, a quarter of the total amount, was actually spent on people's needs.
The 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 come ...
after the quake.
See also
*List of earthquakes in 1980
This is a list of earthquakes in 1980. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. Events in remote areas will not be listed but included in statist ...
*List of earthquakes in Italy
This is a list of earthquakes in Italy that had epicentres in Italy, or significantly affected the country. The highest seismicity hazard in Italy was concentrated in the central-southern part of the peninsula, along the Apennine Mountains, Apen ...
*1930 Irpinia earthquake
The 1930 Irpinia earthquake occurred at 00:08 UTC on 23 July, chiefly in an area known as Irpinia. It had a surface wave magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum intensity of X (''Very destructive''). The event caused 1,404 deaths and 4,624–7,000 inj ...
*List of earthquakes in Irpinia
This is a list of earthquakes that have occurred in the Italian seismic district of Irpinia since the 15th century. It comprises all of the significant earthquakes whose epicenter was located in Irpinia, not those whose epicenter was outside the ...
Footnotes
Further reading
*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