Earthquakes!

The Calabrian region has been devastated by numberous earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tidal waves. Over the centuries, thousands of Calabrese have lost their lives to these. There are volcanos close to Calabria (but not in Calabria), Stromboli and Mount Etna. The activity of these volcano's causes the land to be unstable and subject to earthquakes. Additionally, the plates between Europe and Africa are active in the region of Southern Italy. The first scientifically studied earthquake occurred in Calabria beginning on February 4, 1783 and over a period of the next 2 months 5 more earthquakes struck the Calabrian region. Over 50,000 lives were lost.

Earthquakes That Affected Calabria

Many of the earthquakes that occured were centered in or around Sicily, but the devastation to Calabria went as far north as Cosenza Province. Below is a list of earthquakes dates and statistics. Please note that these are the earthquakes I have read about and is not necessarily a complete list.

• 1184
• 1638
• February 5 through March 28, 1783 (50,000 died)
• 1788 (1,000 dead)
• October 12, 1835 (1,000 dead)
• February 12, 1854
• 1857 (10,000 dead)
• September, 1895 (3,000 dead and injured)
• September 8, 1905
• October 23, 1907
• December 28, 1908

Sicily

December 28, 1908 a massive earthquake struck Messina, Sicily and Calabria. The quake caused a tsunami with 40 foot waves that devastated the coastal towns. The total estimated death toll was between 70,000 - 100,000 but some estimates were as high as 200,000 as shown in the French publication on the left. The tsunami was the largest recorded tsunami ever to hit Europe. The earthquake caused Mount Etna's volcano to become active.

Hundreds of thousands of Italians have lost their lives in Earthquakes