1980 Irpinia earthquake

The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in Italy on November 23, 1980 with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X . It left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, and 250,000 homeless.

The quake struck at 18:34 UTC , centered on the village of Castelnuovo di Conza, Campania, Southern Italy. The first jolt was followed by 90 aftershocks. There were three main shocks, each with epicenters in a different place, within 80 seconds. The largest shock registered a peak acceleration of 0.38g, with 10 seconds of motion greater than 0.1g. The three main shocks combined produced 70 seconds of shaking greater than 0.01g. Thus the shaking was severe and lasted a long time. Towns in the province of Avellino were hit the hardest. In Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 300 were killed, including 27 children in an orphanage, and eighty percent of the town was destroyed and many historical buildings were left in ruins as the town never fully recovered as of 2021. One hundred were killed in Balvano when a medieval church collapsed during Sunday services. The towns of Lioni, Conza della Campania , and Teora were destroyed, and dozens of structures in Naples were levelled, including a 10-story apartment building. Damage was spread over more than 26,000 km2, including Naples and Salerno.

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