Severe earthquakes centered in Emilia-Romagna, Italy
In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck
Northern Italy
, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the
2012 Emilia earthquakes
, because they mainly affected the
Emilia
region.
The first earthquake, registering
magnitude
6.1, struck in the
Emilia-Romagna
region, about 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of the city of
Bologna
, on
20 May
at 04:03
local time
(02:03
UTC
). The
epicentre
was between
Finale Emilia
,
Bondeno
and
Sermide
. Two
aftershocks
of magnitude 5.2 occurred, one approximately an hour after the main event
[3]
and another approximately eleven hours after the main event.
[4]
Seven people were killed.
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the same area nine days later, on 29 May, causing an additional twenty deaths and widespread damage, particularly to buildings already weakened by the 20 May earthquake.
[5]
The epicentre was in
Medolla
: the quake itself occurred at a depth of about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).
[6]
Tectonic setting
[
edit
]
The
Po Plain
, a
foreland basin
formed by the downflexing of the
crust
by the loading of the Apennine thrust sheets, overlies and mainly conceals the active front of the
Northern Apennines
fold and thrust belt
, across which there is about one millimeter (0.04 in) per year of active shortening at present. Information from
hydrocarbon exploration
demonstrates that the area is underlain by a series of active
thrust faults
and related
folds
, some of which have been detected from anomalous drainage patterns. These
blind thrust faults
are roughly WNW?ESE trending, parallel to the mountain front, and
dip
shallowly towards the south-southwest. Several damaging historical earthquakes, such as the
1570 Ferrara earthquake
, have occurred in the area.
[7]
Earthquake sequence
[
edit
]
The 20 May earthquake sequence began with a magnitude 4.0
foreshock
at 01:13 local time (23:13 UTC 19 May). Less than three hours later, at 04:04 local time (02:04 UTC) the biggest of these earthquakes occurred with magnitude 6.1 between
Finale Emilia
(province of Modena) and
Sant'Agostino
(province of Ferrara). This strong quake destroyed all the churches and many of the factories in the area. Seven people were killed. In San Carlo more than 350 families lost their houses. Within the next nine days, there were six aftershocks exceeding magnitude 5, 28 of magnitude 4?5 and 139 of magnitude 3?4.
[8]
The mainshock could be felt as far away as
Switzerland
.
[9]
The
focal mechanism
indicates that the earthquake was a result of
thrust faulting
,
[10]
with a north?south direction of compression, on a fault plane trending west?east. This type of faulting is consistent with the regional tectonic setting.
[11]
On 29 May (about 09:00 CEST, 07:00 UTC), a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the same area. The
hypocentre
has been estimated at 5?10 kilometres (3?6 mi) below
Mirandola
.
[12]
A series of two or three, according to different sources, strong aftershocks with magnitudes larger than 5 occurred at between 12:55 and 13:02 local time.
[13]
[14]
The 09:00 shock and the 13:00 shocks were felt throughout Northern Italy, up to the
Aosta province
.
[15]
The 09:00 earthquake was also felt in
Austria
, Switzerland,
[9]
Slovenia and
Croatia
,
[16]
with reports of swaying buildings in Austria. The two large aftershocks at 12:55 and 13:02 could also be felt in Austria.
[14]
This earthquake had a similar mechanism to the 20 May shock.
[17]
This earthquake, like the previous earthquake of 20 May, was distinctly felt in
Trentino Alto Adige
. It was especially felt on the upper floors of buildings both in
Trento
and
Bolzano
, and created some concern among residents.
[18]
On 6 June at 06:08 local time, a
magnitude
4.5 earthquake hit 50 km further east with an epicenter off the coast of
Ravenna
in
Romagna
at a depth 25.6 km.
[19]
The earthquake was felt strongly and distinctly in
Ravenna
and
Rimini
, then less in
Pesaro
and
Ancona
, and very slightly in the province of
Modena
, in areas already affected by earthquakes in recent days. This earthquake was generated by a fault other than that responsible for the earthquakes of 20 and 29 May in Emilia, although part of the same group of geological structures.
[20]
Damage
[
edit
]
Initial reports after the 20 May shock listed seven dead, including four workers at a factory in
Ferrara
,
[1]
and about 5,000 people left homeless.
[21]
At least 100 structures of historical significance have been damaged or destroyed. Many churches in towns around the epicentre suffered damage.
[21]
[22]
One of the towers of
Castello Estense
, a moated medieval structure in the centre of Ferrara, was damaged in the earthquake.
[23]
Half of a clock tower in
Finale Emilia
dating from the 13th century (known as the
torre dei modenesi
) fell down in the mainshock and the remaining part collapsed completely during an aftershock later that day. There was also significant damage to factories and agricultural land in the region.
[24]
Production of
Grana Padano
and
Parmigiano-Reggiano
hard cheeses was badly affected; approximately 300,000
wheels
, with an estimated value of €200 million, were destroyed.
[25]
Five of the deaths were caused by the collapse of recently constructed factory buildings. Stefano Gresta, president of the
National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology
, deemed it "unacceptable that modern constructions such as warehouses and industrial sheds have collapsed in an earthquake which was strong, but not exceptional".
[26]
The area was not included in seismic hazard maps until 2003, when, after a reassessment, it was classified as "medium risk", with a 10% likelihood of such an earthquake in the next 450 years. A law introduced in 2006 imposed building standards appropriate for the seismic hazard classification, but few of the older buildings have been upgraded to meet these requirements.
[26]
The 29 May magnitude 5.8 earthquake left 18 people dead, more than 350 injured, and more than 15,000 homeless.
[27]
The roof of the 15th-century cathedral of
Mirandola
, already damaged on 20 May, collapsed after the 29 May shock.
[28]
The earthquake was felt in most of Northern Italy, triggering evacuation of schools and other buildings. Some buildings in the
Modena
province and neighbouring areas, already damaged in the first earthquake, collapsed.
[12]
After the mainshock of 20 May, inspections were underway to determine which buildings were safe to reenter. The 29 May earthquake occurred during the daytime, when many people were working. As in the mainshock of 20 May, many of the dead in the 29 May earthquake were workers inside huge warehouses and factories. A local union representative has demanded an investigation to determine who was responsible for permitting the companies to resume operations.
[29]
Both the 20 and 29 May events caused damage to the neighbouring provinces of
Bologna
,
Reggio Emilia
,
Rovigo
and
Mantua
, where parts of the
ducal palace
were damaged.
[30]
An aftershock on the 3 June was felt throughout Northern Italy and caused the collapse of the 18th century clock tower in
Novi di Modena
, already imperilled by the earthquake of recent days.
[31]
The earthquake damage in Emilia "could exceed 4 billion" according to the vice-president of
Confindustria
Emilia-Romagna
, Gaetano Maccaferri, who released these figures in testimony before the Senate Committee on Industry.
[32]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Jewkes, Stephen (20 May 2012).
"Strong quake hits North Italy, at least three dead"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"Un seismo de 5,9 grados sacude Italia y deja al menos tres muertos"
.
El Pais
. 27 February 2012
. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"Magnitude 5.2 ? Northern Italy"
.
United States Geological Survey
. Archived from
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on 23 May 2012
. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"Magnitude 5.1 ? Northern Italy"
.
United States Geological Survey
. Archived from
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. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"New earthquake shakes northern Italy ? 'nine dead'
"
. BBC News. 29 May 2012
. Retrieved
29 May
2012
.
- ^
"Terremoto : 16 morti, e 350 feriti Monti: ≪Lo Stato fara tutto il possibile"
.
Corriere della Sera
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. Retrieved
30 October
2016
.
- ^
Toscani, G.; Burrato P.; Di Bucci D.; Seno S & Valensise, G. (2008).
"Plio-Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Northern Apennines thrust fronts (Bologna-Ferrara section, Italy): seismotectonic implications"
(PDF)
.
Bollettino Societa Geologica Italiana
. Retrieved
24 May
2012
.
- ^
European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (23 May 2012).
"M 6.1 Northern Italy on May 20th 2012 at 02:03 UTC"
. Retrieved
24 May
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Schweizerischer Erdbebendienst (SED)"
.
Swiss Seismological Service
. Retrieved
31 May
2012
.
- ^
"M 6.0, 5.8, and 5.4 Northern Italy Earthquakes of May 2012"
(PDF)
. USGS. 29 May 2012
. Retrieved
29 May
2012
.
- ^
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.
"Terremoto M5.9 Modena"
(PDF)
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
24 May
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Terremoto, scossa di 5,7 a Nord, Sisma avvertito anche a Milano"
(in Italian).
- ^
"Tremblement de terre: L'Emilie-Romagne panse ses plaies ? Monde"
.
24 Heures
. 24heures.ch
. Retrieved
31 May
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Aktuelle Informationen"
. ZAMG. Archived from
the original
on 1 June 2012
. Retrieved
31 May
2012
.
- ^
"Terremoto: 10 vittime. Scossa di 5.8 in Emilia e nel Nord. Nuova fortissima scossa alle 12:56, per almeno 30 secondi"
(in Italian).
- ^
ANSS: Northern Italy 2012
,
"Did You Feel It?"
(accessed 22 May 2012).
- ^
Cheloni, D.; Giuliani, R.; D'Agostino, N.; Mattone, M.; Bonano, M.; Fornaro, G.; Lanari, R.; Reale, D.; Atzori, S. (2016).
"New insights into fault activation and stress transfer between en echelon thrusts: The 2012 Emilia, Northern Italy, earthquake sequence"
.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
.
121
(6): 4742?4766.
Bibcode
:
2016JGRB..121.4742C
.
doi
:
10.1002/2016JB012823
.
- ^
ANSA (3 June 2012).
"Sisma, Ue 'Catastrofe nazionale, presto fondi' ? Sisma alle 21,20. Epicentro tra Novi, Concordia e San Possidonio in zone evacuate. Solo malori"
.
Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata
. Retrieved
3 June
2012
.
- ^
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.
"Magnitudo(Ml) 4.5 ? Italia ? Evento in mare"
(in Italian). Archived from
the original
on 8 June 2012
. Retrieved
6 June
2012
.
- ^
ANSA (6 June 2012).
"Scossa al largo di Ravenna generata da nuova faglia"
.
Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata
. Retrieved
6 June
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Terremoto, scossa di magnitudo 5.9 Epicentro a 36 km a nord di Bologna"
.
Corriere della sera
. 20 May 2012
. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"Forte scossa di terremoto a nord di Bologna Paura, gente per strada, almeno una vittima"
.
La Repubblica
. 20 May 2012
. Retrieved
20 May
2012
.
- ^
"Preliminary findings of UNESCO mission sent to assess earthquake damage to sites in northern Italy"
.
UNESCO
. Retrieved
24 May
2022
.
- ^
TG5. Canale 5. Mediaset. 22 May 2012. 13.00
- ^
Salim, Dizery (21 May 2012).
"Italy quake highlights need to educate the public, says expert"
. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
Nosengo, Nicola (22 May 2012).
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. Nature newsblog
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"TGCOM24"
.
- ^
Kington, T. (29 May 2012).
"Italy hit by 5.8-magnitude earthquake"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Colleen Barry; Alberto Arsie (29 May 2012).
"Workers among 17 dead in latest big Italian quake"
.
Associated Press
.
- ^
"Mantova, salvata Santa Barbara Foto Suzzara, staccata la cupola Video"
.
Gazzetta di Mantova
. 29 June 2012.
- ^
Maino, G.; Maino, D.B. (2021).
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Thesis
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eISSN
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.
- ^
"Terremoto, l'allarme di Confindustria: danni per oltre quattro miliardi, lo Stato intervenga"
. Retrieved
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2016
.
External links
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- †
indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths
- ‡
indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year
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