GNGTS 2024 - Atti del 42° Convegno Nazionale

Session 1.1 GNGTS 2024 Tab. 1. Earthquakes in the Aeolian Archipelago during June 1916 according to the catalogue PFG (Postpischl, 1985). Likely, De Fiore served as the primary source for the other authors, despite the apparent (and likely incorrect) year of the Martnelli publicaton. Nonetheless, it remains unclear from where Martnelli sourced the data. In his brief narratve, De Fiore recounts a journey to the Aeolian Islands, just a few months afer the events, with the purpose of reportng to the government about the contemporary Stromboli erupton. During this visit, he learned about the earthquakes in Filicudi and decided to investgate further. Then he visited the island and met local inhabitants, partcularly two municipal ofcials, who shared informaton about several earthquakes that took place since June. The strongest was said to have occurred on the evening of June 12th. According to De Fiore, there were other two notable earthquakes on July 17th and September 22nd. While he expressed uncertainty about the precise intensity ("Mercalli V-VI?"), his descripton suggests a higher degree: “It was very strong (V-VI on the Mercalli scale) and caused damage, in some cases signifcant, to the roofs of houses (constructed, according to local customs, with layers of a kind of beaten concrete forming slightly arched vaults) that appeared in various directons; detachments in the walls, where they formed angles or joined; fractures in the keystones of arches and lintels of doors and windows. There were also rockslides, which I witnessed.” (De Fiore, 1917). Although De Fiore didn't specify the number of houses damaged, the text implicitly indicates two degrees of damage: "in some cases signifcant" and less important in others. Therefore, damaged houses were not "exceptons" in the macroseismic scenario, and the uncertainty can be proposed between 6 and 7 degrees on the MCS scale. De Fiore added that the efects of the earthquake were stronger in the town of Pecorini and that it was also strongly felt in two other islands, Alicudi and Salina, without reportng any damage. De Fiore's report would be sufcient to update a 20th-century Aeolian earthquake catalogue. However, De Fiore and Martnelli do not align on the sequence of events. Above all, archival documents cast doubt on De Fiore's informaton regarding the data of the strongest event. According to administratve documentaton (Interior Ministry) and seismological records (macroseismic postcards), the earthquake occurred on June 19th, exactly one week afer the date indicated by De Fiore. Specifcally, on June 20th, Angelo Buganza, the Prefect of Messina province, sent a telegram to the Ministry of the Interior reportng that the previous evening, at 22:00 hours,