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1976 Friuli earthquake

Coordinates:46°22′N13°19′E/ 46.37°N 13.32°E/46.37; 13.32
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1976 Friuli earthquake
1976 Friuli earthquake is located in Italy
1976 Friuli earthquake
UTCtime1976-05-06 20:00:12
ISCevent713583
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date6 May 1976(1976-05-06)
Local time21:00:13[1]
Magnitude6.5Mw[1]
Depth10 km (6.2 mi)[1]
Epicenter46°22′N13°19′E/ 46.37°N 13.32°E/46.37; 13.32[1]
TypeDip-slip[2]
Areas affectedItaly
Yugoslavia(Slovenia)
Austria
Max.intensityEMS-98 X (Very destructive)[3]
Foreshocks4.5mb6 May at 19:59[4]
Casualties990 dead[2]
1,700–3,000 injured[2]

The1976 Friuli earthquake,also known in Italy asTerremoto del Friuli(Friulian earthquake), occurred on 6 May 1976, at 21:00:13 (20:00:13UTC) with amoment magnitudeof 6.5 and a maximumEMSintensity of X (very destructive).[3]The shock occurred in theFriuliregion in northeastItalynear the town ofGemona del Friuli.990 people were killed,[5]up to about 3,000 were injured, and more than 157,000 were left homeless.

Damage[edit]

Seventy-seven villages in the Friuli region were affected. Gemona del Friuli was greatly damaged, with about 400 people killed in the town itself. Despite extensive emergency measures andinternational aidby the end of 1976, 15,000 people were still living in camping trailers, 1,000 in tents and 25,000 in evacuation centres. The damage was estimated at $4.25 million.[6][7]Much of the town has since been reconstructed. The tremor was felt inVenice,as well as neighbouringAustria,SwitzerlandandSlovenia(at the time part ofYugoslavia) and Germany. In Slovenia, the upperSočavalley and theBrdaarea was particularly affected, with the village ofBreginjnearly completely demolished. The earthquake damaged several buildings inNova Goricaand was felt also in the Slovenian capital,Ljubljana.A total of 4,000 buildings were destroyed and 16,000 others were damaged across Slovenia, with around 80 percent of the population in the affected areas left homeless.[8]

USGS ShakeMap showing the intensity of the 1976 Friuli earthquake
3D diagram of the geology of the affected area, showing the main geological layers,thrust faults,hypocentralarea and the location ofisoseismallines

The Italian Government nominated Chamber of Deputies memberGiuseppe Zamberlettias coordinator of aid efforts on behalf of the regional administration. The national funds were assigned to the reconstruction of the damaged buildings by Zamberletti and the regional council ofFriuli-Venezia Giulia.From September to December 1976 all the earthquake victims were accommodated into prefabricated buildings, in order to better cope with the winter. Many local inhabitants lived in the Government supplied trailers for many years while homes were rebuilt. After Zamberletti's mandate the regional government of Friuli-Venezia Giulia was able to completely rebuild many towns, thanks to an accurate resource management, however some towns took over a decade to fully recover. Nowadays, many years after the tragedy, the State's intervention, the earthquake management and reconstruction in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are seen as a great example of efficiency and reliability.[9]

Aftershocks[edit]

There were manyaftershocks,with two sets of strong shocks on 11 September (16:31, 5.5Msand 16:35, 5.4 Ms ) and again on 15 September (03:15, 6.0 Ms  and 9:21, 5.9 Ms ) 1976.[4]

Aftermath[edit]

This event also spurred the foundation of theProtezione Civile(the Italian Civil Defence body that deals with nationwide prevention and management of emergencies and catastrophic events).

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdISC (2015),ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009),Version 2.0,International Seismological Centre
  2. ^abcUSGS (September 4, 2009),PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog,Version 2008_06.1,United States Geological Survey,archived fromthe originalon 2020-03-13
  3. ^abTertulliani, A.; et al. (2018)."The 6 May 1976 Friuli Earthquake: Re-evaluating and Consolidating Transnational Macroseismic Data"(PDF).Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata.59(4): 417–444.doi:10.4430/bgta0234.
  4. ^abCipar, John (1980),"Teleseismic observations of the 1976 Friuli, Italy earthquake sequence",Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America,70(4),Seismological Society of America:966
  5. ^Lessi, Davide (2016-05-06)."Friuli, 40 anni dopo spunta un'altra vittima del sisma"[Friuli earthquake, 40 years later another victim is added to the count].La Stampa(in Italian). Turin.Retrieved2020-04-19.
  6. ^Wainwright, John; Thornes, John B. (2003).Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean.Routledge. p. 22.ISBN978-0203495490.
  7. ^"Orcolat, il terremoto che 47 anni fa distrusse il Friuli. Furono mille i morti e 3mila i feriti: ma l'area seppe rinascere"(in Italian). la Republica. 2023-05-06.
  8. ^"FOTO in VIDEO: 40 let od rušilnega potresa v Posočju in Furlaniji, ki je zahteval skoraj 1000 življenj"(in Slovenian). 24UR. 2016-05-06.
  9. ^Carpenedo, Diego (2017).Il "modello friuli" di ricostruzione.Forum.ISBN978-8884209887.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]