1908 Messina earthquake
Sign in to saveAlso known as Terremoto di Messina del 1908
December 1908 earthquake in Messina, Italy
Key facts
- Utc time
- 1908-12-28 04:20:27
- Usgs anss
- ComCat
- Local date
- 28 December 1908 ( 1908-12-28 )
- Local time
- 5:20:27
- Duration
- 37 seconds
- Magnitude
- 7.1 M w
- Depth
- 5–6 mi (8–10 km)
- Fault
- Possibly blind normal fault underlying Strait of Messina; or according to findings in 2019, the Messina -Taormina Fault which runs offshore of Sicily the entire length of the Strait
- Type
- Dip-slip
- Areas affected
- Sicily & Calabria , Kingdom of Italy
- Total damage
- Tsunami waves, fires, landslides;, Messina and Reggio Calabria almost destroyed
- Maximum span max intensity
- MMI XI ( Extreme )
- Tsunami
- Up to 12 m (39 ft)
- Landslides
- Yes
- Casualties
- 120,000
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- disaster
- Country
- Kingdom of Italy
- Located in
- Messina
- Image
- Comerio, Luca (1878-1940) - Vittime del terremoto di Messina (dicembre 1908).jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- 1908 Messina earthquake
- point in time
- 1908-12-28
- earthquake magnitude on the Richter magnitude scale
- 7.5
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~28 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A devastating earthquake occurred on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy, with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The epicentre was in the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily from the Italian mainland. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were nearly destroyed and around 120,000 people died, making it the deadliest earthquake in the history of Europe.
Cause of the earthquake
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “1908 Messina earthquake” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.