HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1915 Avezzano earthquake or 1915 Fucino earthquake occurred on 13 January in
central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...
at . The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicenter was located in the city of
Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...
(which was destroyed) in the
Province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...
. Around 30,000 direct fatalities and $60 million in damage resulted from the
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
.


Tectonic setting

The central
Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...
of Italy are dominated by
extensional tectonics Extensional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the Tectonics, tectonic processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's Crust (geology), crust or lithosphere. Deformation styles The types of structure and the ...
as a result of either roll-back associated with continuing
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
of the
Adriatic plate The Adriatic or Apulian plate is a small list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate carrying primarily continental crust that broke away from the African plate along a large transform fault in the Cretaceous period. The name Adriatic plate is usu ...
or northeastward movement of the Adriatic plate relative to the Eurasian plate. The epicentral area of the earthquake lies within the Fucino Basin, an area of active
rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...
ing with a
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...
to lacustrine sediments. Since the Late Pliocene the subsidence has controlled by a set of NW-SE trending, SW- dipping normal faults, including the Marsican Hwy Fault (MHF) and the San Benedetto dei Marsi–Gioia dei Marsi Fault (SBMGF), which bound the northeast side of the basin.


History

Central and southern Italy in particular have been struck by deadly earthquakes in the last 300 years, with the deadliest earthquake dating back to at least the 1693 Sicily earthquake. Powerful shocks in 1693, 1783, and 1908 as well as 1915 have killed over 30,000 people each.


Earthquake

The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.0–7.5 , recalculated as 6.7 . The calculated epicentre lies about west-northwest of San Benedetto dei Marsi. Surface ruptures that were mapped at the time show that parts of both the MHF and SBMGF moved during the earthquake. Focal mechanisms calculated using the limited instrumental data available for the earthquake suggest strike-slip faulting, but this is at odds with the known geological structure and the mechanism is thought to be purely extensional.


Damage and casualties

The earthquake took place at around 8:00 local time affecting thousands of people throughout central and southern Italy; the shaking was even felt in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. The town of
Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...
was toppled from the shaking and only one high-rise building survived. According to Robinson (1915), ninety-six percent of its population was eliminated almost simultaneously, the worst casualty zone. Several other settlements were demolished in the worst of the earthquake. This damage was attributed to the length of the shock, over 1 minute, and the enormous amount of energy released during the tremor. Compound motion of the fault was also a likely contributor to the earthquake's destruction. The structure of the housing also contributed to the collapse; many homes had been built from simple rocks of varying size and were not reinforced by mortar or even wood. Damage of the earthquake was distributed throughout central and southern Italy. Rome experienced minor damage, including a fallen statue reported in St John Lateran and cracks on the Column of Marcus Aurelius. In fact, damage from the earthquake was diverse; either the location was destroyed or experienced little to no damage. Survivors were pulled out slowly from the ruins of earthquake-stricken zones. One man survived in a barn for a period of 25 days living solely off of grains and water. After a short time the searchers ran out of space to dispose of the debris as it was too overwhelming in mass, forcing the workers to give up. As E.V. Robinson later described, the remaining "work of excavation seemed to go on in an unsystematic and half hearted way". Among those killed by the earthquake was Maria Gramegna, a promising young mathematician who had become a high school teacher in Avezzano.


Response and relief efforts

Initial reports did not mention serious damage, and not until later that night did the scale of the devastation become clear. The government in Rome assumed local authorities had delayed reporting the facts, and it was rumored that they even tried to remove one mayor from office. However, when trying to serve him notice it became clear that he, together with most of his town's people, had died in the earthquake. Because of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the government decided not to accept foreign assistance, and a national rescue and relief effort was promptly started. Among those nursing the victims was the Venerable Suzanne Aubert. She would write back to New Zealand in August: The
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
established the Medal of Merit for the Avezzano Earthquake of 1915 () on 8 August 1915 to reward the organizations and people who provided relief work to the survivors of the earthquake.Lieutenant Legislative Decree, 8 August 1915, Number 1339, ''Col quale è istituita una medaglia per i benemeriti per opera di soccorso in occasione del terremoto del 13 gennaio 1915'' (), published in the ''Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'Italia n. 224'' () of 9 September 1915 (in Italian).


See also

* List of earthquakes in 1915 * List of earthquakes in Italy


References


External links

* {{authority control
Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...
Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...
1915 Avezzano 20th century in Abruzzo Avezzano January 1915 in Europe Disasters in Abruzzo 1910s disasters in Italy 1915 disasters in Europe