A gripping tale that combines scientific evidence with the myths and legends that have always surrounded the fate of Rome and its earthquakes
It has just been published, on INGVterremoti blog ofNational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the story maps “Rome and the earthquakes”, a story in seven chapters that retraces, with a captivating style and rich in anecdotes, two millennia of rumors, urban legends and predictions related to the seismicity of the capital.
From the prophecy of Bede the Venerable (8th century AD) to the most recent one by Raffaele Bendandi on "fateful" 11 May 2011, there have been numerous 'little stories' that have had Rome and its earthquakes (real or fictitious) as protagonists.
La città “empty underneath”, which has no reason to fear since it is protected by the papal presence, has instead experienced numerous seismic events in its thousand-year history, as can be seen from the testimonies of illustrious figures such as popes, poets, historians, actors and journalists, as well as from some lesions observable even on the Colosseum and attributable to some earthquakes of the late Roman and medieval era.
Through a rich bibliography that draws from seismic studies and data, historical documents, cartography, videos, interactive maps, old and recent images and photos, the authors of the story maps have reconstructed the seismic history of the Eternal City, accompanying the reader to discover the traces of the earthquakes in Rome and paying homage to him with the sonnets by Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, a famous 19th century Roman poet, dedicated to his city.
The story maps contains 37 schede informative which tell and bear witness to the damage caused by one or more earthquakes on individual monuments and historic buildings of the Capital: an exciting and at times surprising journey to discover the secrets of a city, Rome, which for over 2000 years has not ceased to fascinate with its art, its beauty and its rich popular culture.
to discover the story maps “Rome and the earthquakes”
for further information on the INGVterremoti Blog
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Graph of the earthquakes felt in Rome, from 461 BC to 1997, with intensity greater than or equal to IV MCS. On the ordinate axis the degrees of the Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg scale (MCS) are reported, while on the abscissa axis the years are highlighted, in particular those relating to the events with greater felt in the Capital (data extracted from CFTI5Med and CPTI15).