List of earthquakes in Italy

This is a list of earthquakes in Italy that had epicentres in Italy, or significantly affected the country. On average every four years an earthquake with a magnitude equal to or greater than 5.5 occurs in Italy.

Due to the particular geodynamic situation (convergence of the Eurasian plate with the African plate) the Italian territory is frequently subject to earthquakes, giving it the record in Europe for these phenomena. Out of 1,300 destructive earthquakes that occurred in the 2nd millennium in the central Mediterranean Sea, 500 affected Italy.

The analysis of the earthquakes indicates that they are mostly distributed along the areas affected by Alpine and Apennine tectonics, where they are caused by movements along faults. The highest seismicity hazard in Italy has been concentrated in the central-southern part of the peninsula, along the Apennine ridge, in Calabria and Sicily and in some northern areas, like Friuli-Venezia Giulia, part of Veneto and western Liguria.

Geology Italy lies on the southern extent of the Eurasian plate, which is surrounded by the Aegean Sea plate, the Adriatic plate, and the Anatolian sub-plate. The Apennine Mountains contain numerous faults that run along the entire Italian peninsula and form the majority of the destructive boundary between the Eurasian and the Adriatic plates, thus causing Italy to have high amounts of tectonic activity. In addition, Sicily and Calabria are located near the boundary where the African plate is subducting below the Eurasian plate, which was responsible for forming the stratovolcano known as Mount Etna.

List of major earthquakes Date Region MMI Deaths Injuries Notes Ref2026-07-31Campania4.5 VII26Severe damage in Pozzuoli2025-03-13Campania4.2 VI11Severe damage 2023-09-18Tuscany5.1 VI11Severe damage 2023-03-09Umbria4.3 4.6 IV13Severe damage 2022-11-09Pesaro-Urbino5.6 VI11Moderate damage 2020-02-24Calabria4.8 VI1Moderate damage 2018-12-26Sicily5.0 VII30Several buildings damaged 2018-08-16Molise5.3 VI2Moderate damage 2017-08-21 Campania 3.9 Mw VIII 2 42 Local collapse of buildings and depth focus of 1.7 km. 2017-01-18 Abruzzo, Lazio 5.7 Mw VIII 34 29 Sequence 2016-10-30 Umbria 6.6 Mw XI 3 (indirect) Dozens Sequence / extensive damage 2016-08-24 Lazio, Umbria, Marche 6.2 Mw XI 299 >400 2013-06-21Tuscany5.2 MwV4 2013-02-16Lazio4.8 V1 (indirect) 2012-05-29 Emilia-Romagna 5.8 Mw VII 20 350 2012-05-20 Emilia-Romagna 6.1 Mw VII 5 (+2 indirect) 50 2010-08-16Sicily4.5 7Landslides 2009-04-06 L'Aquila 6.3 Mw X 308 1,500+ Severe damage 2004-11-24 Lombardy, Salò 5.1 Mw 9 Many buildings damaged 2003-09-14 Emilia-Romagna 5.3 Mw VII Some 10 buildings damaged 2003-04-11 Piedmont, Alessandria 5.0 Mb VI * 2 2002-11-01 Molise 5.8 Mw VIII 3 Doublet / additional damage 2002-10-31 Molise 5.9 Mw VII 29 135 Doublet 2002-09-06 Sicily 6.0 Mw V 2 20 Heart attacks / damage 2001-07-17 Trentino-Alto Adige 4.7 Mw VI * 3 3 Landslides 1998-09-09 Basilicata, Calabria 5.6 Mw VI–VII * 2 12 Buildings damaged 1997-09-26 Umbria, Marche 6.1 Mw X 9 Doublet 1997-09-26 Umbria, Foligno 5.7 Mw VII 2 Doublet 1991-05-26 Basilicata, Potenza 5.1 Mb VIII A few Minor damage 1990-12-13 Sicily, Augusta 5.6 Mw VII 19 200 Severe damage 1990-05-05 Basilicata, Campania 5.8 Mw VII 2 16 1987-05-02 Emilia-Romagna 4.8 Mb VII 1 Several Slight damage 1985-03-14Molise4.3 MwV1Slight damage 1984-05-07 Abruzzo, Lazio 5.9 Mw VIII 3 100 Extensive damage 1984-04-29 Umbria, Gubbio 5.7 Mw VIII 36 Extensive damage 1983-11-09 Emilia-Romagna 5.1 Mw VIII 100 Some damage 1980-11-23 Campania, Basilicata 6.9 Mw X 2,483–4,900 7,700–8,934 Extreme damage 1979-09-19 Umbria, Norcia 5.8 Ms 5 5,000 Severe damage 1978-04-15 Gulf of Patti, Sicily 5.7 Ms 5 Moderate damage 1978-03-11 Sicily 5.0 Ms 2 2 Moderate damage 1976-09-15 Friuli 5.9/6.0 8 (+3 indirect) Aftershock 1976-09-11 Friuli 5.8/5.6 2 (indirect) Aftershock 1976-05-06 Friuli 6.5 Mw X 900–978 1,700–2,400 Extreme damage 1972-06-14 Ancona 4.9 Extensive damage / swarm 1971-07-15 Emilia-Romagna 5.2 Mb VIII * 2 Limited damage 1971-02-06 Lazio 4.6 Mb VIII 24 150 Extreme damage 1969-08-11 Perugia 4.7 Ms VII 4 Limited damage 1968-01-15 Western Sicily 5.5 Mw X 231–400 632–1,000 Sequence 1962-08-21 Irpinia, Campania 6.1 * 16 Moderate damage 1943-10-03 Offida, Marche 5.5 Mw 15 Very heavy damage 1936-10-18 Cansiglio 5.9 ML 19 1933-09-26 Abruzzo 5.6 Mw 10 Some damage 1930-10-30 Senigallia, Marche 5.9 18 1930-07-23 Irpinia 6.6 Ms X 1,404 4,624–7,000 1920-09-07 Garfagnana 6.4 171 1917-04-26 Northern Umbria 5.8 20 1915-01-13 Avezzano 6.7 Mw XI 29,978–32,610 Extreme damage 1914-05-08 Sicily 4.9 Ms X 120 Severe damage 1908-12-28 Strait of Messina 7.1 Mw XI 75,000–200,000 Extreme damage / tsunami 1907-10-23 Calabria 5.9 Ms VIII–X 158–167 Moderate damage 1905-09-08 Calabria 7.2 Mw XI 557–2,500 Tsunami 1901-10-30 Salò 5.5 Mw VII–VIII Collapsed buildings 1894-11-16 Strait of Messina, Sicily, Calabria 6.0 100 Severe damage 1887-02-23 Liguria 6.2–6.5 >2,000 Significant damage / tsunami 1883-07-28 Ischia 4.3–5.2 Mw XI 2,313 Near total destruction on in Ischia 1873-06-29 Veneto 6.3 Me –X 80 1857-12-16 Basilicata 7.0 Mw XI 10,000 Extreme damage 1851-08-14Basilicata700–2,000+Many buildings damaged 1836-04-25 Calabria 6.1 X 239 Severe damage 1831-05-26 Taggia, Sanremo 5.5 VIII-IX Moderate damage 1828-10-09 Ligurian Apennines, province of Alessandria 5.8 VII-VIII 19 Moderate damage 1808-04-02 Piedmont 5.7 VIII 2 Moderate damage 1805-07-26 Campania, Molise 6.6 Me X 5,573 Extreme damage 1802-05-12 Lombardy, Cremona 5.7 Mw VIII-IX 2 Collapsed churches, houses, and a municipal building 1783-02-04 Calabria 7.0 50,000 USGS 1762-10-06 L'Aquila Damage 1743-02-20 Salento 7.1 Mw 180–300 1732-11-29 Campania 6.6 Thousands 1706-11-03 Abruzzo 6.6-6.84 Mw X 2,400 Extreme damage 1703-02-12 L'Aquila 6.7 XI 2,500–5,000 1703-01-16 Montereale 6.2 VIII 1703-01-14 Norcia 6.7 X 6,240–9,761 1694-09-08 Basilicata 6.9 >6,000 1693-01-11 Sicily, Malta 7.4 Mw XI 60,000 1688-06-05 Sannio 7.0 XI 3,311 Severe damage 1659-11-06 Calabria 2,035 Extreme damage 1654-07-23 Sorano, Marsica X 600 Severe damage 1639-10-07 Lazio 6.0 Mw –X 500 1638-06-09 Calabria 52 Moderate damage 1638-03-27 Calabria 7.0 Ms XI 9,581–30,000 Extreme damage / tsunami 1627-07-30 Apulia 6.7 Mw X 5,000 Tsunami 1626-07-30 Naples 70,000 1626-04-05 Girifalco 6.1 Mw X Very heavy damage 1616-06-04 Cagliari No casualties or damage reported. Registeted on a plaque in the city's cathedral 1570-11-17 Ferrara 70–200 1561-08-19 Vallo di Diano 6.4 Mw X 500 1517-03-29 Irpinia 5.4 Mw >50 Moderate damage 1511-03-26 Friuli X 15 Severe damage 1466-01-15 Irpinia 6.1 VIII-IX >100 1461-11-27 L'Aquila 6.3 >80 High intensity over Abruzzo region 1456-12-30 Benevento 6.6 Mw X–XI Sequence 1456-12-05 Molise 7.1–7.4 Mw X–XI 30,000–70,000 High intensity over large area. Largest earthquake on the Italian Peninsula. 1453-09-28 Florence 5.3 VII-VIII Moderate damage 1361-07-17 Ascoli Satriano 6.0 >1,000 Extreme damage 1349-09-09 L'Aquila 6.7 X 2,000 Severe damage 1348-01-25 Friuli 6.9 X 10,000 Extreme damage 1343-11-25 Naples Tsunami 1328-12-04 Norcia 6.4 X 2,000-5,000 1315-12-03 L'Aquila 5.6 Moderate damage 1298-12-01 Monti Reatini 6.3 X Numerous deaths and severe damage 1293-09-04 Samnium, Naples 5.8 VIII-IX Moderate damage 1222-12-25 Northern Italy X 12,000 Extreme damage 1169-02-04 Sicily X 15,000–25,000 Severe damage / tsunami 1117-01-03 Northern Italy VII Severe damage 1046-11-09 Valle dell'Adige -X Numerous deaths and severe damage 801-04-29 Central Apennines 5.4 Me VII–VIII Severe damage 951 Rossano Severe damage 853 Messina -X Severe damage 847 Samnium Severe damage 801-04-29 Spoleto, Perugia Severe damage 778 Treviso VIII-IX 48 Moderate damage 725 Classe VIII Moderate damage 584 Liguria Severe damage 375 Benevento Severe damage 369-07-21 Benevento Thousands Severe damage 361 Sicily and Calabria X Drastic decrease in the population along the Strait of Messina Extreme damage / tsunami 346 Samnium Severe damage 101 San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore -X Severe damage 99 Circello, Benevento -X Severe damage 79-08-24 Vesuvian area VIII Thousands Earthquake caused by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD 62-02-05 Campania 5.2–6.1 –X Severe damage 56 BC-04 Potenza Picena VIII-IX Severe damage 91 BC Modena, Reggio Emilia VIII Moderate damage 100 BC Marche VIII-X Severe damage 217 BC-06 Etruria X Severe damage Note: The has records for significant events that go back several thousand years BCE. Added for source diversity, the United States Geological Survey reports are sufficient from the early 1980s to the present. Occasionally, these sources omit the maximum felt intensity. can help fill in some of the gaps. Intensity values derived from this source are indicated with an asterisk. The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

Gallery

List of earthquakes in Italy

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