February 14, 1981 Earthquake: Southern Italy

Date

February 14, 1981

Time

17:27:44 UTC

Place

Southern Italy

Magnitude

4.6 (mb)

Focal depth

10 km (6 mi)

Intensity

7 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

41.051° N, 14.601° E

Country

Italy

Deaths

12

Damage

$500,000

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.

• December 5, 1456, Avellino,napoli,abruzzi, Brindisi,benevento, Italy30,000 deaths · 73 km
• January 13, 1915, Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi, ItalyM7.5 · 29,978 deaths · $60 million · 140 km
• December 16, 1857, Campania, Potenza, ItalyM6.5 · 10,000 deaths · 145 km
• February 2, 1703, L'Aquila (Aquila), ItalyM6.7 · 10,000 deaths · 196 km
• 1248, Sabaudia, Italy9,000 deaths · 134 km
• July 26, 1805, Molise, Rosolone, Napoli (Naples), Isernia, Italy5,600 deaths · 19 km
• July 30, 1627, Lesina, ItalyM6.7 · 5,000 deaths · 98 km
• November 23, 1980, Avellino, Potenza, Caserta, Naples, ItalyM6.9 · 4,689 deaths · $20 billion · 66 km
• September 8, 1694, Calitri, Italy4,057 deaths · 100 km
• December 16, 1631, Naples (Napoli), Italy4,000 deaths · 29 km
• July 17, 1361, Basilicata to Pouilles, Italy4,000 deaths · 119 km
• March 20, 1731, Foggia, ItalyM6.3 · 3,600 deaths · 90 km
• June 5, 1688, Benevento, Italy3,311 deaths · 18 km
• July 28, 1883, Casamicciola, Forino, Lacco Ameno, Ischia Is, Italy2,313 deaths · 2,278 houses destroyed · 71 km
• August 24, 79, Naples (Napoli), Italy2,100 deaths · 29 km

Significant earthquakes of 1981The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1981Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 4913.