February 20, 1743 Earthquake: Salento, Italy

A very strong earthquake struck Francavilla (di) Fontana, Lecce, and Brindisi. The earthquake "attacked" with a great force the total Salentine Peninsula and the Island of Malta; it affected the regions of Calabria and Messina to a lesser degree, and less still - Naples. It was noticeably felt on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, essentially in the area of Veneto. The shock was noted in Padua. (reference #2130)

A strong earthquake (IX–X MCS; CPTI 2004) occurred in the Salento peninsula (Apulia) and in the Ionian Islands on 20 February 1743, causing severe damage in Nardo`, where most buildings were ruined. The towns of Lecce and Brindisi were heavily damaged, and the shock was felt in a very large area, involving Calabria, Sicily and Campania. (reference #9531)

AD 1743 Feb 20 Otranto, Greece Just before midnight Wednesday 20–21 February 1743 a large-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Strait of Otranto. It caused heavy damage in the Salento peninsula in Italy and sporadic but widespread damage throughout western Albania and Cephalonia (Kefalonia), more specifically in the Morea (western Peloponnese) as far as Nafpaktos and Corinth. On the Greek mainland, the Venetian colonies of Prevesa (Preveza) and Vonizza (Vonitsa) were damaged, and it was felt as far away as Sicily and Malta. (reference #9116)

Several modern studies and references therein were based on State Venetian documents, such as the ASV, 1743a, issued on 16 March 1743 by Antonio Loredan, the General Provvedidor (Governor) of the Sea. They reported that heavy damage of intensity 9 on the MCS scale was caused in Italy, mainly in the area of Salento, as well as in Amaxiki and in Ayia Mavra, because of a large earthquake that occurred on 9/20 February 1743. Intensity 9 (MCS) is equivalent to 9 on the MM and EMS-98 scales. Important damage was also reportedly caused on the Greek mainland and in Albania. The earthquake was felt in Italy from 23:30 to 23:45 “Italian time”, corresponding to 16:30 to 16:45 GMT or to 18:30 to 18:45 local Greek time. Reviews of many Italian documents indicated that the earthquake, measuring magnitude ~Mw7.1, possibly ruptured the Strait of Otranto, offshore northwestern Corfu. However, the very large area of damage makes the Strait of Otranto earthquake a puzzling event. Galli and Naso (2008) noted that the opposite Ionian coasts were struck at the same time. They also underlined that unless two separate shocks occurred at the same hour near the Apulian and Balkan coasts, respectively, it appeared that damage in southern Italy and in Greece–Albania was actually induced by the same earthquake. Other authors indicated that the earthquake was a complex seismic event, consisting of at least three distinct shocks following each other in about 20 min. In the Ionian Islands, however, there were more shocks over the space of an hour […] earthquake occurred at least 3.5 h before the Strait of Otranto earthquake. Taking into account the difference between the origin times of these two earthquakes, we considered that a very strong local earthquake possibly occurred in Lefkada before the Strait of Otranto earthquake. If this is true, the reported heavy damage in Amaxiki was likely caused not by the Strait of Otranto earthquake but by the earthquake reported in the local memory note [written by a monk in a local ecclesiastic book of the Asomaton Monastery, Lefkada,].