I can’t emphasis enough how significant the infamous earthquakes of 1693 were to eastern Sicily. First of all, it wasn’t just one day or one event. “The earthquake” was a series of tremors that started on January 9, 1693 with a hypothetical 6.2 magnitude (there was no Richter Scale at the time) followed by a…
Tag: earthquake
It Came Crashing Down In January 1693
Pictured are the ruins of the Chiesa e Collegio de Gesuiti (Jesuit Church and College) built during the 17th century in Noto, Sicily. Today, you may visit this site in “Noto Antica,” or Ancient Noto, more than six miles away from the renowned city of Noto. Founded by Baron Carlo Giavanti, it’s hard to imagine…
Commemorating The Tremendous 1693 Earthquake In Sicily
After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily like it hasn’t since. Etna was erupting, and a tsunami struck the Ionian coasts of eastern Sicily and the Strait of Messina. We don’t know the exact scope of the earthquake’s power according…
Commemorating Messina’s 1908 Earthquake
This calendar (and the astronomical clock on an adjacent wall, not shown) was built in 1933 on the renowned bell tower next to Messina’s Cathedral. The tower was rebuilt after the December 28, 1908 earthquake, from which approximately 75,000 people died in a metropolitan area of 160,000 people. Measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, the first…
Sicily Shook On January 11, 1693
After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily for what historians say was four minutes. Etna erupted, and a tsunami struck the Ionian coasts of eastern Sicily and the Strait of Messina. We don’t know the exact scope of the earthquake’s…
Stopped In My Tracks at Cretto di Burri
Seeing this sculpture in person earlier this month was very moving. At the site of Gibellina Vecchia, a town in southwestern Sicily that was flattened by the January/February 1968 earthquakes, a stunning exhibition of 8,000 square meters of concrete has transformed the ruins of what were once homes, businesses, and public spaces. Grande Cretto or…
A Frontier of Art
In spite of the plague of bureaucracy that was perhaps more devastating than the 1968 earthquake itself, fifty years later, the Valle del Belice has emerged as a frontier of contemporary art and architecture in Sicily. The Star of Gibellina, created by artist Pietro Consagra, represents an entryway to the area, and is meant to…
Fifty Years Ago the Earth Shook
Fifty years ago during the night of January 14 to 15, 1968 through subsequent days leading to early February 1968, a series of earthquakes rocked southwestern Sicily. The Valle del Belice and the people who called it home have not been the same since. Because it was before the Richter Scale measured tremors in Italy,…
The Earthquake of 1968
This week, with the tragic earthquake in central Italy shaking us all near and far, one who knows Sicilian history can’t but help think about the Belice Earthquake that occurred during the night of January 14 and 15, 1968 through early February 1968. It was before the Richter Scale measured tremors in Italy, so it’s…