Apennine Normal Fault Belt
Italy · continental rift · 3747.1 km of mapped active fault in 27 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.28 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 103 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 3.43 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 3747.1 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 27 |
| Tectonic setting | continental rift |
| Slip types | Normal, Dextral-Normal, Sinistral-Normal |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 37.87 to 44.02 latitude, 11.15 to 16.82 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 49 significant earthquakes and 11 tsunamis attributed to this system since 1627.
The deadliest was the 28 December 1908 magnitude 7.0 earthquake (Italy: Messina, Sicily, Calabria), which killed 80,000 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 7.5, on 13 January 1915 (Italy: Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi).
The most recent entry is the 4 March 2026 magnitude 4.5 earthquake (Italy: Catania: Ragalna).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 187,221 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 December 1908 | tsunami (waves to 13 m) | Messina Strait, Ionian Sea | 80,000 dead, $116 million damage |
| 28 December 1908 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Italy: Messina, Sicily, Calabria | 80,000 dead, $116 million damage |
| 5 February 1783 | magnitude 6.9 earthquake | Italy: Tyrrhenian Calabria | 30,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 5 February 1783 | tsunami | Tyrrhenian Calabria | 30,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 13 January 1915 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Italy: Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi | 29,978 dead, $60 million damage |
| 2 February 1703 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Italy: L'aquila (Aquila) | 10,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 16 December 1857 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | Italy: Campania, Potenza | 10,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 27 March 1638 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Italy: Cosenza, Martirano, Nicastro, Calabria | 9,581 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 30 July 1627 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Italy: Lesina | 5,000 dead |
| 30 July 1627 | tsunami | Gargano Peninsula | 5,000 dead |
| 23 November 1980 | magnitude 6.9 earthquake | Italy: Avellino, Potenza, Caserta, Naples | 4,689 dead, $20,000 million damage |
| 20 March 1731 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Italy: Foggia | 3,600 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 20 March 1731 | tsunami | Tyrrhenian Sea | 3,600 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 6 February 1783 | tsunami (waves to 16 m) | Messina Straits | 1,500 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 6 February 1783 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Italy: Messina Straits | 1,500 dead |
| 23 July 1930 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | Italy: Irpinia | 1,430 dead, 3,188 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 8 September 1905 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Italy: Monteleone, Tropea, Monte Poro | 557 dead, 6,700 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 8 September 1905 | tsunami (waves to 1.3 m) | Tyrrhenian Calabria | 557 dead, 6,700 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 6 April 2009 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Italy: L'aquila | 309 dead, 15,000 homes destroyed, $2,500 million damage |
| 24 August 2016 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | Italy: Accumoli, Arquata, Amatrice | 299 dead, $5,000 million damage |
| 23 October 1907 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Italy: Ferruzano | 158 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 23 October 1907 | tsunami | Ionian Calabria | 158 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 18 January 2017 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | Italy: Farindola | 34 dead, $18 million damage |
| 31 October 2002 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | Italy: San Guiliano Di Puglia, Campobasso | 30 dead, $796 million damage |
| 21 August 1962 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Italy: S | 16 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 60 entries. A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
Dipartimento della Protezione Civile is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/en/ (in English)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.