First systematic field investigation of an earthquake: Calabria 1783
Primera investigación de campo de un terremoto: Calabria 1783
- Date
- febrero-marzo de 1783 · confidence high
- Place
- Calabria, Italy
- Credited to
- Royal Academy of Sciences of Naples; William Hamilton
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
After the Calabria and Messina earthquake sequence of 1783, the Naples Academy sent a commission that mapped damage, measured fissures and landslides and collected testimony; Hamilton and others published observations. It is one of the first systematic field studies.
Lisbon 1755 prompted an earlier survey (the Marquis of Pombal's questionnaire); whether Calabria is the 'first' field investigation depends on definition. The coordinates refer to a broad region.
What it led to
- a model for later surveys such as Mallet's
- damage distribution maps as a basis for seismic zoning