The 1908 Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria, was one of the most catastrophic seismic events of the 20th century. With a magnitude of 7.2, within 37 seconds, the earthquake severely damaged the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria.
The 1908 Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria
On Monday, 28 December 1908, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 (XI Mercalli) struck the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria in the early morning (about 5:20 local time). With epicentre in the municipality of Reggio Calabria, the earthquake is considered one of the most powerful and devastating earthquakes in Italian history.
In addition to destroying entire buildings, thecalabrian-sicilian earthquake disrupted all communication routes (roads, railways, tramways, telegraph and telephone). One half of the inhabitants of Messina, and one third of the inhabitants of the Reggio Calabria lost their lives. What effects and damage were caused by the 1908 earthquake?
The Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria in 1908 is considered the most devastating natural disaster in Europe, in terms of the number of victims, and the worst natural disaster ever to hit Italian territory. In addition to the damage caused by tremors and fires, there was also damage caused by the tidal wave, of destructive violence, which landed on the coastal areas of the entire Strait of Messina with devastating waves, from a height of between 6 and 12 m. The tide sucked in boats, dead bodies and the wounded and many people were dragged offshore and drowned. In a little time, the tsunami even reached the island of Malta, where roads and shops were flooded and boats were washed ashore by the rushing water. The tide gauges of Naples and Civitavecchia, respectively 300 and 500 km away, also recorded changes in sea level.
The event devastated the city of Messina, causing 90% of the buildings to collapse. The characteristics of the foundation ground and the quality of constructions determined the severity of the damage observed. Civilians, law enforcement personnel, soldiers and more than one half of the members of the city council died under the rubble. The city, which at the time had about 140,000 inhabitants, lost about 80,000.
Palazzo Grano Roccafiorita, Messina 1908
In Reggio Calabria several public buildings, such as barracks and hospitals that suffered serious damage, were destroyed. After the shock, the problem of maintaining public order was dramatic as, due to the collapse of the prisons, a gang of escaped prisoners targeted the ruins of the Courthouse to burn the archive, and the Bank of Italy, in order to enter the vault. Out of a population of 45,000 inhabitants, about 15,000 victims were recorded here. The number of injured people was very high and property damage was catastrophic. For years, the event impacted the economy and demographic dynamics of the affected areas, which were characterized by a temporary depopulation followed by a migratory flow recalled by the demand for labour needed for reconstruction. The aftershocks, which totalled 293, were frequently repeated on the following days and until near the end of March 1909.
People displaced by the 1908 Messina earthquake
What caused the Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria?
According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the 1908 Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria, was caused by the movement of a large blind, low-angle SE dipping normal fault. In 2019, researchers at Birkbeck University in London identified the active fault responsible for the earthquake as the previously mapped, but little-studied Messina-Taormina fault, which lies off the coast of Sicily and runs along the Strait of Messina. This area of regional tectonic tract, known as the Calabrian Arc, is a turning point along the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary.
What do historical chronicles tell us about the 1908 Messina earthquake?
After the earthquake that struck Messina on 28 December, Sicilians and Calabrians were immediately rescued by Russian and British ships that were in Syracuse and Augusta, while aid from Italy arrived in the morning on 29 December. The delay was caused by the fact that the steamships departed from Naples and in the late evening, straight after reliable news about the catastrophe reached the government. The newspapers wrote:
“There is no doubt that, if search and rescue teams had arrived in Reggio ready, there would have been no need to regret the large number of victims.”
“It has been established that Reggio remained in almost complete abandonment for two days. The first people to come to its rescue on the 28th came on foot from Lazzaro – together with General Mazzitelli and a few hundred soldiers […]. Questa squadra ebbe contegno mirabile e diede aiuto alle migliaia di feriti giacenti presso la stazione. […] As soon as they arrived, they were surrounded by a crowd of famished people and the bread they brought was literally torn out of their hands. So they starved until the 30th, when the ships began to arrive.”
The future Nobel Prize winner for literature Salvatore Quasimodo moved to Messina three days after the earthquake and later recounted the experience in his poem To My Father:
Where Messina layviolet upon the waters,
among the mangled wiresand rubble,
you walk along the rails and switches
in your islanders’ cock-of-the-walk
beret. For three days now, the earthquake boils,
it’s hurricane December
and a poisoned sea.(Salvatore Quasimodo, To My Father)
Ruins of the Cathedral of Messina, 1908
What was the country’s intervention and how were the reconstruction works managed after the earthquake of 28 December 1908? For the first time in history, people rushed to help those affected by an earthquake. Hundreds of committees were spontaneously formed throughout Italy to bring relief, both money and basic necessities. The cities closest to Messina, such as Catania and Syracuse, hosted hundreds of injured people at local hospitals, as well as at schools and in private homes. Many celebrities and ordinary people were leaving for Messina to lend a hand. Right after the earthquake struck, Queen Elena, princess of Montenegro, who became sovereign of Italy by marrying Vittorio Emanuele III in 1896, went to Messina with her husband to help the injured. On the ships of the Royal Marines, turned into hospitals, the queen helped earthquake victims by bandaging wounds, adjusting bones, assisting doctors, bringing comfort to those who had lost everything.
People on the street after the 1908 Messina earthquake
In a few days, the ancestors of the slums Italian earthquakes victims after the Second World War became accustomed to appeared in Messina: so-called michelopoli, because they were built by young Emilian deputy Giuseppe Micheli. To help the victims of the Messina earthquake that took place in Sicily and Calabria in 1908, not only people in Italy came to help, as help also came from other parts of the world, especially from European capitals. Even U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, urgently convened Congress, which decided to allocate $50,000 and send 16 ships of the American fleet to the areas most affected by the earthquake.
Search and rescue teams from England helping after the 1908 Messina earthquake
