December 16, 1857 Earthquake: Campania, Potenza, Italy
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Campania, Potenza, Italy on December 16, 1857 at 21:18 UTC. It killed 10,000 people.
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 16, 1857
- Time
- 21:18 UTC
- Place
- Campania, Potenza, Italy
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 40.300° N, 16.000° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- Deaths
- 10,000
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 5, 1456, Avellino,napoli,abruzzi, Brindisi,benevento, Italy
- September 16, 1857, Calabria,montemurro, Italy
- March 27, 1638, Cosenza,martirano, Nicastro, Calabria, 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
- July 17, 1361, Basilicata to Pouilles, Italy
- December 16, 1631, Naples (Napoli), 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
- November 5, 1659, Panaija, Soriano, Polia, Italy
- January 1688, Pisticci, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1857The 1800sRecent 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 2013.