A series of major earthquakes struck Central
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 ...
between the
Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
and
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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regions in October 2016. The third quake on 30 October was the largest in Italy in 36 years, since the
1980 Irpinia earthquake
The 1980 Irpinia earthquake ( it, Terremoto dell'Irpinia) took place in Italy on 23 November 1980, with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). It left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, an ...
.
Earthquakes
A
magnitude 5.5 earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
struck east southeast of
Sellano
Sellano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 50 km southeast of Perugia. As of 31 December 2018, it had a population of 1,048 and an area of 85.7 km².All demographics and o ...
on 26 October at 19:11 local time (17:11
UTC)
at a depth of . The earthquake was also felt in the city of Rome.
In the region of Marche some houses collapsed, Italian media reported. There were also power failures and the telephone lines were interrupted.
A magnitude 6.1 intraplate
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
struck west of
Visso
Visso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. It houses the seat of Monti Sibillini National Park.
Main sights
* San Giacomo c ...
on 26 October at 21:18 local time (19:18
UTC). The earthquake, which occurred two months after
a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in August, struck about to the northwest of the August earthquake's epicenter. The civil protection, however, estimated the consequences less dramatically than feared. According to official data, a man died because he had suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
as a result of the quake.
A third large, shallow earthquake of
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
preliminary magnitude 6.6 struck north of
Norcia
Norcia (), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia (), is a town and comune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a su ...
at 07:40 local time (06:40 UTC) on 30 October. Early news and social media reports showed heavy damage to some structures. The village of
Arquata del Tronto
Arquata del Tronto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region of Italy, located about from Ancona. It is the only European municipality located partly within two natural parks: Gran Sasso e Monti della Lag ...
was destroyed, as were several heritage buildings. These include the
Basilica of Saint Benedict in Norcia, the
Church of San Salvatore and other churches in Campi. Two women died of sudden heart attacks during the quake.
Shocks
Geological aspects
The quakes occurred in a
seismic gap A seismic gap is a segment of an active fault known to produce significant earthquakes that has not slipped in an unusually long time, compared with other segments along the same structure. There is a hypothesis or theory that states that over long ...
which is located between the areas hit by the
2016 August earthquake and the
one in Umbria and Marche of 1997. In that gap no strong earthquake happened for more than 100 years until 2016.
As the process of faulting along the chain of the
Apennine Mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
is a relatively recent one in geological terms, starting 500,000 years ago, the faults are more irregular, so more shaking occurs due to foreshocks according to seismologist
Ross Stein from Stanford University. In this case the destructive shock on 26 October was preceded by the foreshock by two hours, causing people to leave their homes and be safer when the larger shock occurred.
Comparisons with August 2016 earthquake
See also
*
August 2016 Central Italy earthquake
An earthquake, measuring 6.2 ± 0.016 on the moment magnitude scale, hit Central Italy on 24 August 2016 at 03:36:32 CEST (01:36 UTC). Its epicentre was close to Accumoli, with its hypocentre at a depth of 4 ± 1 km, a ...
*
January 2017 Central Italy earthquakes
A series of four major earthquakes struck Central Italy between Abruzzo, Lazio, the Marche and Umbria regions on 18 January 2017.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 25 km northwest of L'Aquila on 18 January at 10:25 local time a ...
*
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 ...
*
List of earthquakes in 2016
This is a list of earthquakes in 2016. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities ...
References
External links
Earthquake in Italyon Earthquake Report Website
EMSR190: Earthquake in Central Italy (damage grading maps)–
Copernicus Emergency Management Service
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...
{{Earthquakes in Italy
2016 earthquakes
2016 in Italy
2016 disasters in Italy
Earthquakes in Italy
History of le Marche
October 2016 events in Italy
Earthquake clusters, swarms, and sequences
History of Umbria