December 5, 1456 Earthquake: Avellino,napoli,abruzzi, Brindisi,benevento, Italy
An earthquake struck Avellino,napoli,abruzzi, Brindisi,benevento, Italy on December 5, 1456 at 04:30 UTC. It killed 30,000 people, counting the tsunami it caused.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- December 5, 1456
- Time
- 04:30 UTC
- Place
- Avellino,napoli,abruzzi, Brindisi,benevento, Italy
- Intensity
- 11 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 40.400° N, 14.500° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- Deaths
- 30,000
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1456, Dec 5. Italy, all the south, especially Brindisi, Ariano, Avellino and Naples. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
1456, Dec. 5, 4:30 [local time]. Benevento - Campobasso, 41o18'N, 14o42'E, intensity XI. (reference #1075)
1456, Dec. 5. Napoli- Brindisi, Campania, 30,000 dead. (reference #1002)
1456, Dec. 4-5. Catastrophic earthquake in the Abruzzo Molise and Basilicata pleistoseismic area, ie is to say a Isernia, Campobasso, Boiano, Benevent, Ariano, etc., over a length of 170 km., houses were razed to the ground, except for a few buildings that collapsed halfway. Naples, Aquila, Melfi, Foggia, etc.. were destroyed. The total number of victims was 24 or 30,000, one hundred in Naples and Pozzuoli. (reference #1093)
1455, Dec. At Naples; 40,000 perished. (reference #1073)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 13, 1915, Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi, Italy
- December 16, 1857, Campania, Potenza, Italy
- September 16, 1857, Calabria,montemurro, Italy
- 1248, Sabaudia, Italy
- July 26, 1805, Molise, Rosolone, Napoli (Naples), Isernia, Italy
- July 30, 1627, Lesina, Italy
- November 23, 1980, Avellino, Potenza, Caserta, Naples, Italy
- September 8, 1694, Calitri, Italy
- December 16, 1631, Naples (Napoli), Italy
- July 17, 1361, Basilicata to Pouilles, Italy
- March 20, 1731, Foggia, Italy
- June 5, 1688, Benevento, Italy
- July 28, 1883, Casamicciola, Forino, Lacco Ameno, Ischia Is, Italy
- August 24, 79, Naples (Napoli), Italy
- January 1688, Pisticci, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1456The 1400sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 611.