December 28, 1908 Earthquake: Messina, Sicily, Calabria, Italy

Reference #2130:1908, 12/28. Earthquake and tsunami in Messina. Focus was located in the Strait of Messina; mag 7. Geodetic measurements pre and post-quake showed graben - like subsidence of the Strait of Messina. Earthquake damaged 2 of 7 telephone cables that connected Italy and Sicily along the Strait of Messina. Calabrian coast suffered rockfalls and landslides.

Preceding shocks in 1905 and 1907 caused little destruction. The 12/28 quake destroyed Messina in Sicily with a population of 150,000, Reggio di Calabria and most settlements along both coasts. Over 80,000 people, including almost 60,000 from Messina, were killed ; the buildings were constructed of stone with poor mortar.

Reference #5096:Messina and Reggio Calabria, < 10 km apart on the two facing shores of the straits, were destroyed, and buildings were severely damaged over an area > 6,000 sq km. Of the population, 140,000 of Messina and 45,000 of Reggio Calabria, many died. Estimates of total victims range from 60,000 to more than 100,000. Guidoboni et al. contend that 80,000 people were killed by the quake, including 2,000 who died from tsunami.

Reference #10994:The tsunami generated by coseismic displacement during the 1908 Messina earthquake has been simulated with an E-dipping fault plane source with parameters described by Capuano et al. that best account for the geodetic benchmarks. The simulated earthquake-generated tsunami does not account for the measured runup and arrival times. Billi et al. proposed that the source of the 1908 tsunami was a large (c.a. 20 km3) landslide with a crown area offshore Giardini. We propose that the 1908 tsunami was generated by a composite source: coseismic seafloor displacement and landslides of a few cubic km (1-5 km3) suddenly triggered by the earthquake.

Different Reports of Epicenters, Magnitudes and Effects

LatitudeLongitudeMagnitudeDepthIntensity

$Million

DamageDeaths

(Earthquake)Deaths

(Tsunami)Reference #46,869-82,03551658,000105983,000118285,925124811675,000125038.07 N15.53 E40 km139280,000213038 N15.5 E7 Ms223138.183 N15.683 E7.2XI413960,000-100,0002,000509638 N15.5 E7.2 Ms, 7.1 Mw60,000-100,000991038 N15.349 E7.03 Mw15 km1047638.17 N15.58 E711.511000