1998 Sarno and Quindici landslides

1998 landslides and flood in Italy 1998 Sarno and Quindici landslides Frana di Sarno 1998.jpg Sarno cut in two by a large landslide Alluvione di Sarno e Quindici del 1998 Italian 1998 05 05 1998 05 06 Sarno, Siano, Bracigliano, San Felice a Cancello, and Quindici, Campania Campania, Italy Italy Sarno and Quindici flood Flood and landslides Torrential rain 161 360 1,350-3,000 The 1998 Sarno and Quindici landslides (Italian: Alluvione di Sarno e Quindici del 1998), also known as the 1998 Sarno and Quindici floods, were a series of large and deadly landslides caused by torrential rain and flooding that struck the region of Campania in southern Italy between the 5th and 6th of May 1998. Over 140 landslides occurred, with the communities of Sarno, Siano, and Bracigliano in the Province of Salerno, and Quindici in the Province of Avellino being particularly devastated. The disaster had a death toll of 161, injured 360 more and displacing up to 3,000 people.Tortora Francesco Sarno dieci anni dopo la frana https://www.corriere.it/cronache/08_maggio_04/sarno_tortora_a54d53a4-19e0-11dd-ab0f-00144f486ba6.shtml 19 October 2025 corriere.it 4 May 2008 Italian Sarno ten years after the landslide The disaster has heavily featured in scientific articles and research regarding landslides and is often used as a case study for this type of natural disaster.Guadagno Francesco Maria Revellino Paola Grelle Gerardo The 1998 Sarno Landslides: Conflicting Interpretations of a Natural Event Italian Journal of Engineering Geology and Environment 2011 71–81 10.4408/IJEGE.2011-03.B-009 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa02/engineering_geology_environment/article/download/1093/961/3325 19 October 2025Zanchetta Giovanni Sulpizio Roberto Pareschi Maria Teresa Leoni F. M. Santacroce Roberto Characteristics of May 5–6, 1998 volcaniclastic debris flows in the Sarno area (Campania, southern Italy): relationships to structural damage and hazard zonation Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 30 May 2004 133 1–4 377–393 10.1016/S0377-0273(03)00409-8 2004JVGR..133..377Z https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377027303004098 19 October 2025Capparelli G. Versace P. Analysis of landslide triggering conditions in the Sarno area using a physically based model Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 27 August 2014 18 8 3225–3237 10.5194/hess-18-3225-2014 2014HESS...18.3225C free https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/18/3225/2014/hess-18-3225-2014.pdf 19 October 2025 Timeline In May 1998, Campania was hit by an exceptional rainfall event, and over 240 mm in on to 300 mm in on of rain fell in 72 hours.SARNO 5 MAGGIO 1998 http://alfonsoelia.altervista.org/FRANA%20SARNO/index.html alfonsoelia.altervista.org 19 October 2025 Italian https://web.archive.org/web/20110627070115/http://alfonsoelia.altervista.org/FRANA%20SARNO/index.html 2011-06-27 This event caused the disruption of structural continuity between limestone and pyroclastic deposits, and led to the catastrophic downslope movement of the latter across the former. On May 5, at around 3:00 PM, the first landslide broke away from Mount Pizzo d’Alvano, narrowly missing the nearby towns as relentless rain poured down on Sarno, Bracigliano, and Siano. The Salerno prefecture was not informed about the landslides until around 4:30 PM.Gaudieri Pierpaolo Sarno, Siano, Quindici... quel quadrilatero infernale della Campania, tra frane e alluvioni http://www.centrometeo.com/articoli-reportage-approfondimenti/meteo-cronache-ambiente-immagini/5399-sarno-siano-quindici-quadrilatero-infernale-campania-frane-alluvioni centrometeo.com 19 October 2025 Italian Sarno, Siano, Quindici... that infernal quadrilateral of Campania, between landslides and floods At 5:00 PM, several landslides and debris flows started sliding downhill, overwhelming Sarno and surrounding villages and destroying dozens of homes. At the same time, reports came in of a landslide in Siano. The first rescue teams arrived in the valley about an hour later, just as Quindici on the opposite side of Mount Pizzo d'Alvano was hit by an avalanche of mud and debris that buried the town centre and the hamlet of Casamanzi. Shortly after, the Episcopio hamlet of Sarno was struck by an enormous mudflow that destroyed the entire village. During the evening, as more landslides struck Sarno and Quindici causing some power outages, several dead and injured people were pulled from the mud. The injured were rushed to the largest hospital in the area, Sarno’s Villa Malta.De Fazio Bianca "Abbiamo chiesto aiuto ma non ci hanno ascoltato" https://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fango/fango2/fango2.html repubblica.it 19 October 2025 Italian 6 May 1998 "We asked for help but they didn't listen to us" However, the situation deteriorated even further when, between 11:31 PM and midnight on May 6, an enormous landslide swept through Sarno once again, engulfing the Villa Malta hospital and burying two doctors, three nurses, the hospital porter, and five patients—including two children—under the mud. The first helicopters only reached the area at 6:00 AM. Casualties + Municipality Deaths 22px Sarno 137 22px Quindici 11 Bracigliano 7 22px Siano 5 22px San Felice a Cancello 1 Total 161 After days of digging through the mud and rubble, the final death toll was 161. Among the victims of the disaster there was also a rescuer, the firefighter Marco Mattiucci, who was awarded the Gold medal for Civil Valour for his heroism demonstrated during the rescue operations.Cerimonia in ricordo del vigile del fuoco "Marco MATTIUCCI" - "Medaglia d' oro al valor civile" - Conca dei Marini - Sito Ufficiale http://www.concadeimarini.org/cerimonia-ricordo-del-vigile-del-fuoco-marco-mattiucci-medaglia-d-oro-al-valor-civile concadeimarini.org 19 October 2025 Italian Ceremony in memory of firefighter "Marco MATTIUCCI" - "Gold Medal for Civil Valor" - Conca dei Marini - Official Website https://web.archive.org/web/20110627143308/http://www.concadeimarini.org/cerimonia-ricordo-del-vigile-del-fuoco-marco-mattiucci-medaglia-d-oro-al-valor-civile 2011-06-27 Aftermath thumb|right| A commemorative plaque placed on the facade of the Sarno town hall in 1999 featuring a poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti with a profile of the local mountains below it According to some sources, only ten hours after the incident, the Campania Region environmental councillor Angelo Grillo sent a fax to the mayors of the area in which he predicted the possibility of catastrophic events:Sarno, a 18 anni dalla tragedia nessuna manutenzione ai canali di scolo https://www.bioecogeo.com/sarno-a-18-anni-dallalluvione-nessuna-manutenzione-ai-canali-di-scolo/ BioEcoGeo 19 October 2025 Italian 14 November 2016 Sarno, 18 years after the tragedy, no maintenance of the drainage channels "It is reported that the orographic conformation and geo-environmental characteristics of your municipal territory, in conjunction with certain ongoing heavy rainfall events, may produce unpredictable instability situations leading to catastrophic landslides. This notice is issued for the purpose of activating all necessary measures aimed at ensuring the protection of public and private safety" Original excerpt (Italian): "Segnalasi che la conformazione orografica e le caratteristiche geoambientali del vostro territorio comunale in concomitanza di particolari eventi piovosi in corso in queste ore, possono determinare situazioni non prevedibili di instabilità con conseguenti eventi franosi catastrofici. Tanto si comunica ai fini dell'attivazione di ogni misura necessaria atta a garantire la salvaguardia della pubblica e privata incolumità" Once the severity of the situation was established, numerous detachments of law enforcement, firefighters, and volunteers from across Italy rushed to the scene to provide assistance to the affected population. In addition to the high number of victims—including several children—many people were saved by the mudslide, including one who was pulled alive, after more than three days, from the basement where she had been dragged by the mudflow.Sarno, recuperate due persone vive dalle macerie https://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fango/fango1/fango1.html repubblica.it 19 October 2025 Italian 8 May 1998 Sarno, two people recovered alive from the rubble Once the initial emergency phase had ended, several criminal proceedings were initiated against members of the city administration of Sarno to determine any possible responsibilities. On May 5, 2010, Mayor Gerardo Basile—who had initially been found not guilty of the charge of multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter in the first two levels of trial—had his appellate acquittal overturned by the Court of Cassation. This ruling—based on the Court’s assessment that the mayor’s conduct had been ‘passive’ in managing the events—remanded the case to the Court of Appeal of Naples for a new trial.Maciocchi Patrizia Passiva la condotta del sindaco di Sarno nella gestione della frana del 1998 https://st.ilsole24ore.com/art/SoleOnLine4/Norme%20e%20Tributi/2010/05/cassazione-sentenza-sarno-sindaco-condotta-passiva.shtml?uuid=b66fb334-5863-11df-8850-64d909ae08a6&DocRulesView=Libero 19 October 2025 st.ilsole24ore.com 5 May 2010 Italian The mayor of Sarno's conduct in managing the 1998 landslide was passive In December 2011, the Court of Appeal sentenced Basile to five years of imprisonment, a decision confirmed by the Court of Cassation in 2013. The sentence was later reduced by three years under the 2006 pardon, while the remaining two years were served through probationary supervision under social services. See also List of disasters in Italy by death toll 2018 Southern California mudflows References Category:1998 in Italy Category:Floods in Italy Category:Landslides in Italy Category:1990s disasters in Italy Category:1990s landslides