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Valerio Comerci, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Anna Maria Blumetti, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Elisa Brustia, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Pio Di Manna, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Domenico Fiorenza, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Luca Guerrieri, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Mauro Lucarini, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Leonello Serva, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
Eutizio Vittori, APAT, Italian Agency for Environment Protection and for Technical Services (Italy)
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The December 28, 1908, Southern Calabria - Messina earthquake (Intensity MCS XI, estimated Magnitude 7.2) is among the strongest seismic events that have rocked Italy during historical times and the most ruinous in terms of casualties (at least 80,000). According to most reconstructions, its epicentre was located at sea in the Messina Straits.
The impact of the earthquake was particularly catastrophic in Reggio Calabria and Messina. Damages have been more intense and widespread along the Calabrian coast, between south of Reggio Calabria and south-west of Scilla. In Sicily the most damaged area was the coast from its easternmost tip to south of Messina. After the earthquake, a destructive tsunami inundated both sides of the Strait, with a run-up that rose in excess of 10 meters in some places. Often, a complex task is to distinguish the effects of the earthquake from those of the tsunami. Some authors believe the tsunami was triggered by an underwater landslide, although this is not proven.
This study illustrates the coseismic effects on the environment based on a focused reading of contemporary documents, i.e. technical and photographic reports, newspapers and other archive material. More than 100 environmental effects were catalogued; among them, particularly relevant were the changes in elevation along both sides of the Strait, partly due to the settlement of loose sediments and artificial filling (e.g., Messina and Reggio Calabria port areas), and partly ascribed to landslides and tectonic slip. Liquefaction was reported in the areas of Messina, Pantano (lake Ganzirri) and Reggio Calabria. Portions of the coast were lost, especially on the Calabrian side, most of them eroded by the tsunami. The most relevant ground cracks were reported in Messina, Reggio Calabria and at San Procopio near Sant'Eufemia in Calabria (4-5 km long, according to Baratta). Landslides and rockfalls occurred in many Sicilian and Calabrian localities (especially between Reggio Calabria and Bagnara), not only along coastal areas. A submarine telephone cable between Gallico (in Calabria) and Gazzi (in Sicily) was cut likely by a slide. In both the regions ground collapses and also several hydrological anomalies occurred: springs flow-rate and elevation changes, water temperature variations and gas emissions.
It is readily evident that, apart from the huge tsunami wave, documented coseismic environmental effects appear to be, as a whole, less than commonly expected for earthquakes of similar magnitude in that region (i.e., 1783 Calabrian and 1693 eastern Sicily earthquakes).
Our targeted study of the contemporary documents has lead to a comprehensive picture of the distribution of ground coseismic environmental effects of this earthquake, which was not available so far. Such a knowledge is crucial to better estimate the size of the event and the future impact of a similar event on a region that has seen a strong urban and infrastructural development since then.
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