The 1732 Irpinia earthquake was a seismic event with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 6.6 that affected

Irpinia Irpinia ( Modern Latin ''Hirpinia'') is a geographical and cultural region of Southern Italy. It was the inland territory of the ancient '' Hirpini'' tribe, and its extent matches approximately today's province of Avellino. Geography The territ ...

and part of

Sannio Samnium () is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The language of th ...

. It occurred on 29 November 1732 at 8:40 AM local time (

UTC+1 +01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time * West Africa Time * Western European Summer Time **Brit ...

). The epicenter was located in the Campanian Apennines, in the area of the

Ufita The Ufita is a river of Campania, in southern Italy. The source is in the Baronia traditional sub-region of Irpinia, in the province of Avellino, after which the river flows generally north-westwards, entering the province of Benevento before ent ...

Valley, which is part of the modern-day

Province of Avellino The province of Avellino () is a province in the Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea ...

. Around twenty populated areas were destroyed entirely or in part and tens of others were significantly damaged. The number of deaths was estimated to be 1,940. Damage from the earthquake was classified as "severe" (indicating damage between $5 and US$24 million), and the number of homes destroyed as classified as "many" (indicating between 101 and 1,000 homes). The earthquake had a rating on the

modified Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS) measures the effects of an earthquake at a given location. This is in contrast with the seismic magnitude usually reported for an earthquake. Magnitude scales measure the inherent force or ...

of X (extreme). Among the most devastated communities were

Mirabella Eclano Mirabella Eclano is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Avellino, in the Southern Italian Campania region. its population was of 7,904. History The Roman site of Aeclanum once stood nearby. It is now an archaeological park and li ...

(which was razed to the ground),

Carife Carife (; Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. In the year 2001, the population was 1,697. Located in the Apennines between the Ufita Valley and Daunian Mountains, the town is part of the Roman Cath ...

Grottaminarda Grottaminarda (Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino (Campania), situated northeast of Naples, in the southwest of Italy. Grottaminarda is part of Roman Catholic Diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia and its territory bor ...

, and

Ariano Irpino Ariano Irpino (formerly known as ''Ariano di Puglia'' until 1930, and simply ''Ariano'' in historical sources and the Arianese dialect) is an Italian Comune (Italy), municipality with a population of 20,706 inhabitants located in the Province of ...

. Damage was serious in the provincial capital of

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

, while in

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

, there were mainly partial collapses of buildings.

References

{{Authority control 1730s earthquakes 1732 disasters 1732 in Italy Earthquakes in Italy History of Campania

See also

References