1968 Belice earthquake

Earthquake in Sicily, Italy 1968 Belice earthquake 1968-01-15 02:01:06 827285 iscgem827285 14 January 1968 03:01 Italy Sicily 6.4 w y 37.767 12.983 inline, title Thrust Sicily X 231–400 dead 632–1,000 injured vertical Atlas of isoseismal maps of Italian earthquakes CNR - Inventario 158 - carta geografica relativa al terremoto di Belice 16 gennaio 1968.tiff Atlas of isoseismal maps of Italian earthquakes CNR - Inventario 157 - note informative relative al terremoto di Belice 15 gennaio 1968.tiff Map and details The 1968 Belice earthquake (it terremoto del Belice) sequence took place in Sicily between 14 and 15 January.http://storing.ingv.it/cfti/cfti5/quake.php?35810IT Catalogue of Strong Earthquakes in Italy (461 BC – 1997) and Mediterranean Area (760 B.C. – 1500) Guidoboni E. Ferrari G. Mariotti D. Comastri A. Tarabusi G. Valensise G. INGV-SGA 8 May 2019 The largest shock measured 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale, with five others of magnitude 5+. The maximum perceived intensity was X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake sequence, centred between the towns of Gibellina, Salaparuta and Poggioreale in the area of river Belice, killed at least 231 people, possibly more than 400, with between 632 and about 1,000 injured and left 100,000 homeless. Tectonic setting Sicily lies on the complex convergent plate boundary between the African plate and the Eurasian plate. The geology of the western part of the island is dominated by the Gela Nappe, a thin-skinned fold and thrust belt. The Gela Nappe consists of Pliocene-Quaternary age sedimentary rocks deposited in the earlier foredeep, thrust up onto the thick carbonate sequence of the Pelagian-Hyblean Platform of the African plate.Lavecchia G. Ferrarini F. de Nardis R. Visini F. Barbano M.S. 2007 Active thrusting as a possible seismogenic source in Sicily (Southern Italy): Some insights from integrated structural–kinematic and seismological data Tectonophysics 445 3–4 145–167 2007Tectp.445..145L 10.1016/j.tecto.2007.07.007 Earthquake There was a sequence of six M 5+ earthquakes, making this western Sicily's largest historical seismic event,Monaco C. Mazzoli S. Tortorici L. 1996 Active thrust tectonics in western Sicily (southern Italy): the 1968 Belice earthquake sequence Terra Nova 8 4 372–381 10.1111/j.1365-3121.1996.tb00570.x 1996TeNov...8..372M beginning with a M 5.2 shock at 12:28 on the 14 January, followed by a M 5.1 event at 13:15 on the same day and a M 5.2 event at 01:33 on 15 January, the mainshock at 02:01, and two M 5.2 events at 16:42 on 16 January and at 09:56 on 25 January. The greatest perceived intensity on the Mercalli scale was X (Extreme) at Gibellina, Montevago and Salaparuta. Intensities at Poggioreale, Trapani|Poggioreale, Santa Margherita di Belice, Santa Ninfa, Partanna and Salemi reached IX (Violent) on the scale. thumb|The ruins of Poggioreale pictured in 2003 The focal mechanisms of the mainshock and the two magnitude 5+ aftershocks are consistent with thrusting on faults trending west–east, although an alternative solution has been proposed for the mainshock of right lateral transpression on a NNW-SSE trending fault. Damage The main area of damage was centred on the valley of the Belice, with worst affected towns being Santa Ninfa, Partanna, Montevago, Santa Margherita di Belice, Gibellina, Salaparuta, Poggioreale.8 Vita, Salemi, and Camporeale also suffered significant damage.2 The earthquakes on 14 January did little damage, but many of the inhabitants spent the following night sleeping outside, during which the most damaging of the shocks occurred,http://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/jcms/en/terremoto_belice.wp Belice earthquake 1968 The Civil Protection Department (Protezione Civile) 1 July 2012 7 April 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120407060107/http://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/jcms/en/terremoto_belice.wp dead which probably greatly reduced the number of casualties. The official death toll was 231 with a further 623 injured. Other estimates give more than 400 dead with over 1,000 injured. An estimated 100,000 people were made homeless by the earthquakes. The worst affected buildings were of unreinforced masonry construction that used irregular stones with weak mortar and had roofs consisting of heavy tiles resting on wooden beams. Such buildings collapsed completely in many cases. Houses with load-bearing walls made of regular stone or concrete blocks and better quality mortar performed better, although some were badly damaged. The most modern buildings that used reinforced concrete frames generally suffered little damage.10 Aftermath thumb|Abandoned buildings in Poggioreale, Trapani The immediate relief effort was hampered by a lack of disaster relief planning at both local and provincial levels, excessive bureaucracy, a lack of supplies close to the affected areas and a tendency of refugees to treat outsiders with suspicion.59 One year after the earthquakes, many hundreds of people were still living in tents and many of the prefabricated housing units had yet to appear, despite having been paid for; no work had begun on providing permanent housing. Two-thirds of refugee families had still not received their government grant. Haas J. Eugene Robert S. Ayre The Western Sicily Earthquake Of 1968 National Academy of Sciences 1969 Washington, D.C. https://books.google.com/books?id=N0UrAAAAYAAJ July 11, 201152 Nine years after the earthquake, none of the refugees had been placed in new housing, leaving 60,000 still living in temporary accommodation.Ginsborg P. A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943–1988 Palgrave Macmillan 2003 345–346 978-1-4039-6153-2 https://books.google.com/books?id=uhgRA9j9FOwC&pg=PA346 1 July 2012 The towns of Poggioreale, Trapani|Poggioreale, Gibellina, Vita, Santa Margherita di Belice and Salaparuta were eventually rebuilt in new locations. See also List of earthquakes in 1968 List of earthquakes in Italy References Further reading Orecchio Barbara Scolaro Silvia Batlló Josep Neri Giancarlo Presti Debora Stich Daniel Totaro Cristina New Results for the 1968 Belice, South Italy, Seismic Sequence: Solving the Long-Lasting Ambiguity on Causative Source Seismological Research Letters Seismological Society of America (SSA) 92 4 2021 0895-0695 10.1785/0220200277 2364–2381 2021SeiRL..92.2364O 233643711 External links Haas J. Eugene Robert S. Ayre The Western Sicily Earthquake Of 1968 National Academy of Sciences 1969 Washington, D.C. https://books.google.com/books?id=N0UrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP3 NAP:01499 827285 1968 Belice Category:1968 earthquakes Category:1968 in Italy 1968 Category:January 1968 in Europe Category:Earthquake clusters, swarms, and sequences Category:1960s disasters in Italy Category:1968 disasters in Europe