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CFTI5Med, Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in Italia (461 a.C.-1997) e nell'area Mediterranea (760 a.C.-1500) - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). doi: https://doi.org/10.6092/ingv.it-cfti5

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The Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in ltalia (Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes) is the most important outcome of a well-established collaboration between the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING; since 2000 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV), the leading Italian institution for basic and applied research in seismology and solid earth geophysics, and SGA (Storia Geofisica Ambiente), a private firm specializing in the historical investigation and systematization of adverse natural phenomena. The collaboration with SGA came to an end in 2007, when part of its personnel became INGV permanent staff. The Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in ltalia, 461 a.C. - 1980 was first published in Italian in 1995 by Boschi et al. (1995: CFTI 1). It was intended as a complete account of Italian "strong earthquakes", of their territorial impact and of the social and economic upheaval caused. The decision of focusing only on the largest earthquakes was dictated by the need to establish a priority among the vast number of events reported in traditional catalogues. Only earthquakes with a reported maximum intensity equal to or bigger than intensity VIII-IX on the MCS scale were considered in the first release of the catalogue, but this threshold was progressively relaxed for its subsequent versions. The second release, that appeared two years later, included more earthquakes, was based on more accurate research, and covered a longer time span (461 B.C. to 1990) (Boschi et al., 1997: CFTI 2). Knowing that the record of Italian historical seismicity is probably the most extensive of the whole world, and hence that the catalogue could be of interest for a wider international readership, Boschi et al. (2000) decided to share this experience with colleagues from foreign countries by preparing an English version of the catalogue. The new release (CFTI 3) entailed much additional research and fine tuning of methodologies and algorithms, including earthquakes up to 1997. Following the publication of two large research bodies on the seismicity of the Mediterranean region up to the 10th century (Guidoboni et al., 1994) and between the 11th and 15th century (Guidoboni and Comastri, 2005), the area of relevance of the catalogue was extended to the entire Mediterranean basin. The new contents, which included only basic seismological parameters (felt reports and epicentral location for Italian earthquakes, epicentral location only for the other Mediterranean earthquakes), appeared in a new version of the catalogue (CFTI4Med), published in 2007 as a web and web-GIS repository (Guidoboni et al., 2007).
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... According to the Italian Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (CPTI15, Rovida et al., 2020Rovida et al., , 2022, this sequence consists of a series of earthquakes, including the most powerful ever recorded in Italy, with a magnitude of M 7.3. Over two years, the seismic sequence witnessed the occurrence of the most intense shocks happening just two days apart (Guidoboni et al., 2018(Guidoboni et al., , 2019. The first shock took place on 9 January and caused significant damage at 18 sites, leading to the collapse of numerous buildings with an intensity level equal to or greater than 7 Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg (MCS) in Noto, Augusta, Avola, and Syracuse, in the Iblean area, and in Catania (Guidoboni et al., 2018(Guidoboni et al., , 2019. ...
... Over two years, the seismic sequence witnessed the occurrence of the most intense shocks happening just two days apart (Guidoboni et al., 2018(Guidoboni et al., , 2019. The first shock took place on 9 January and caused significant damage at 18 sites, leading to the collapse of numerous buildings with an intensity level equal to or greater than 7 Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg (MCS) in Noto, Augusta, Avola, and Syracuse, in the Iblean area, and in Catania (Guidoboni et al., 2018(Guidoboni et al., , 2019. The maximum intensity observed was 8-9 MCS and the estimated moment magnitude was 6.2 ± 0.2, according to CPTI15 (Rovida et al., 2020. ...
... The maximum intensity observed was 8-9 MCS and the estimated moment magnitude was 6.2 ± 0.2, according to CPTI15 (Rovida et al., 2020. The second shock occurred on the morning of 11 January, at 08:00 GMT, and records are available for eight localities in the Iblean area and Catania, where the maximum intensity of 5-6 MCS is assigned (Guidoboni et al., 2018(Guidoboni et al., , 2019. Subsequently, on 11 January at 13:30 GMT, a third earthquake struck the area, marking the most powerful and destructive event within the entire seismic sequence, with a moment magnitude of 7.3 ± 0.1 according to CPTI15. ...
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The 1693 Noto earthquake, which struck on 11 January, is one of the Italy’s largest and most devastating earthquakes. According to the Italian Parametric Earthquake Catalogue, it reached a maximum intensity of 11 on the Mercalli–Cancani–Sieberg scale and had an estimated magnitude of M 7.3. Nevertheless, its precise location and source definition remain subjects to debate due to the complexity of the seismic sequence and lack of geological evidence. A series of potential seismic sources differing in location, dimension, and kinematics have been proposed in the literature based on seismotectonic data and interpretations. The goal of this work is to perform a retrospective experiment to verify which of the proposed seismic sources have a better fit with the observed intensity data. To do so, novel simulation techniques are used to study this historical earthquake. We generated ground-motion scenarios for each proposed source model through a stochastic finite-fault simulation approach. Then, the simulated ground-motion parameters were converted to intensities using two different ground-motion intensity conversion equations for Italy. Finally, we compared these converted intensities with the observed intensity data in terms of normalized root mean square errors and converted intensities from ground-motion models. Our results generally show good consistency between converted intensities from the simulated and predicted ground motions, whereas the observed intensities fit better to converted ones from the peak ground velocity rather than peak ground acceleration. Our analysis reveals that the source model reproducing the best of the macroseismic data of the Noto earthquake is the Canicattì–Villasmundo fault system with a magnitude of 7.1.
... Frequenza di un evento: noi conosciamo la frequenza con la quale si ripetono i terremoti, sappiamo se in una certa zona non c'è mai stato un terremoto, ce ne sono stati pochi, ce ne sono stati molti (Cfr. Guidoboni et al., 2018); siamo in grado di definire a seconda delle zone una categoria di rischio sismico: in Italia c'è una mappa della pericolosità sismica del territorio nazionale (Cfr. Stucchi et al., 2004), per cui sap-piamo che per esempio la zona nella quale vivo non è soggetta frequentemente a sismi, ma se penso al Friuli, all'Irpinia, a Messina o Avezzano, è un altro discorso. ...
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Per stimolare la riflessione nel panel dedicato a minori, servizi socioeducativi, reti di inclusione e prossimità a partire da un punto di vista legato alle tecnologie digitali "nella città che cambia", ho pensato di proporre tre spunti di riflessione, in maniera rapsodica. Un primo spunto è venuto da uno sguardo ad alcune indagini a proposito delle dotazioni digitali delle famiglie di bambini in età scolare, messe nella prospettiva di un eventuale nuovo periodo di distanziamento sociale. La seconda riflessione è nata da un progetto destinato al contrasto alla povertà educativa e al divario digitale, che ha sollevato perplessità riguardo ai dati delle rilevazioni delle indagini di cui sopra. Un terzo ordine di considerazioni è legato a un approccio teorico al concetto di rischio, utile a mio avviso per interpretare i pericoli a cui potrebbero essere esposti minori in situazioni pericolosamente prossime alla povertà educativa, e a conciliare le evidenze dei due passaggi precedenti.
... comparing the data in these catalogs with those found in scientific literature for each fault. Earthquake data were cross-referenced with various seismic catalogs, including the Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes (CPTI15; Rovida et al., 2022; https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI15-DBMI15), the Italian Seismological Instrumental and Parametric Data-Base (ISIDe; ISIDe Working Group, 2007; https://terremoti.ingv.it/iside), the Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes (CFTI;Guidoboni et al., 2018Guidoboni et al., , 2019 https://storing.ingv.it/cfti/cfti5/), and the Italian Macroseismic Database (DBMI;Locati et al., 2022; https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI15-DBMI15). ...
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The Central Apennine Fault System (CAFS) characterizes an active tectonic region of significant importance, witnessing numerous destructive seismic events over the last millennia. Although numerous studies have underscored the role of Coulomb stress transfer (CST) in initiating some of the most catastrophic earthquakes, investigations focusing on its specific influence within the CAFS are limited. This research delves into a thorough examination of the effects of CST on both historical and instrumental seismic events of significant magnitude associated with the CAFS. We selected nine seismic events for the CST investigation, dating from 1279 CE to present. Beyond analyzing the static stress transfer for each individual seismic event, the cumulative CST of recent instrumental earthquakes was also examined to provide a comprehensive overview of the current stress scenario. Leveraging an innovative approach, faults were modeled adopting a variable strike three‐dimensional elliptical shape, ensuring enhanced calculation accuracy. Significant findings emerge from the analysis: CST has played a pivotal role in either activating or inhibiting the faults of the CAFS over the centuries. Several examined instances showcase fault reactivation following increased transferred stress within relatively short time frames, while others highlight the inhibitory effect of stress shadows. Examining the differences in seismic moment release across three seismicity windows (the first one between 1300 and 1400, the second around 1700, and the last one from 1979 to 2016) reveals distinct periods of higher seismicity in the past millennium. The latter shows the lowest cumulative seismic moment, suggesting a potential seismic gap equivalent to a Mw 6.67 earthquake. Deepening our understanding of CST illuminates the role of fault interactions in past earthquake occurrences, offering valuable insights into forecasting potential future seismic sequences. This awareness is vital in crafting targeted seismic risk mitigation strategies, thereby safeguarding local communities from the profound consequences of earthquakes.
... The database termed Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes (hereinafter CFTI database) was compiled at the national scale and supplies a great deal of information and elaborations for all listed events 6 , including their effects on the social, built, and natural environments 7 ; it holds a central role in assessing individual earthquake-induced landslide hazards, as its latest version (CFTI5Med) 8 provides evidence of 527 effects of landslides that are known to have been induced by strong historical earthquakes. These historical earthquake-induced landslides (hereinafter HEILs) are the object of our investigation. ...
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Knowing the location, the extent and the characteristics of any earthquake-induced environmental phenomenon is becoming an increasingly pressing need for civil protection agencies and local administrations. In particular, earthquake-triggered landslides are known for being among the most important sources of secondary hazard, as they may cause significant losses and may delay rescue operations across large areas. The combination of the relatively frequent seismic release with a very high landslide susceptibility makes the Italian territory especially prone to the occurrence of earthquake-induced landslides. The CFTIlandslides dataset features over 1,000 landslides triggered by historical Italian earthquakes (up to 1997). The landslides effects are subdivided into classes based on location accuracy and type of movement. Knowing the distribution of the past earthquake-induced landslides provides the input information for assessing the related hazard. This dataset is addressed to a large audience of potential users, including researchers and scholars, administrators and technicians belonging to local institutions, and civil protection authorities.
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On 23 March 2018, an event of magnitude ML 3.9 occurred about 10 km from the town of Ostuni, in the Adriatic offshore. It was the most energetic earthquake in South–Central Apulia ever recorded instrumentally. On 13 February 2019, in the same area, a second ML 3.3 event was recorded. The analysis of the 2018 event shows that the ambiguity of the solution of the fault plane reported by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) on the Italian National Earthquake Centre website can be solved considering existing seismic profiles, exploration well logs and the Quaternary activity of faults in the epicentral area. A seismogenic source was identified in the rupture of a small portion of a 40 km length structure with strike NW-SE, dipping at a high angle toward the south. In this work, we have relocated the recent earthquakes by using the seismic stations managed by the University of Bari (UniBa), one of which is quite close to the event’s epicenter (about 20 km), together with data coming from the RSN (Rete Sismica Nazionale). Furthermore, we have determined the focal mechanism of some events, with implications on stress field of the area. Our results show right-lateral transtensional kinematics of the seismogenic faults along approximately E-W striking planes, with a tension, T, with a trend of about 60° (NE-SW direction) and a plunge of 20°. Finally, we have tried to correlate the location of the four best constrained earthquakes with their seismogenic structures.
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This paper presents a new catalogue of the 2022/2023 Adriatic Offshore Seismic Sequence obtained by machine learning-based processing. The procedure performs the automatic picking and association of phases starting from the analysis of the continuous waveforms recorded by 40 seismic stations of the Italian National Seismic Network and 5 stations of the SISMIKO emergency group network. The earthquakes were detected over a 3-month period, between 1 November 2022 and 31 January 2023. This new catalogue consists of 2780 earthquakes with a magnitude equal to or greater than ML 0.4, providing more information about lower-magnitude earthquakes in particular. The results make available, on the one hand, new insights into the offshore sequence, which can contribute to confirming the attribution of the earthquakes to the Adriatic Fault System, and in particular, the mainshocks to the Cornelia fault thrust, as also hypothesised by other works in the literature. Moreover, the work provides a further contribution in showing the great potential of using machine learning-based procedures to build catalogues with a greater degree of completeness, even in very particular cases such as the one represented by the Adriatic offshore sequence, for which the minimum distance from the epicentres is high and the azimuth coverage limited.
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Most of the Periadriatic Fault System has been active during the Oligocene and Miocene times. Its western part seems to be almost inactive ever since, while the eastern segments show limited seismic activity. We conducted a systematic archaeoseismological survey along the Periadriatic-Sava fault system, assessing buildings and archaeological sites for earthquake damage. Eleven sites, four Roman and seven Medieval, bear evidence of destructive earthquakes which occurred during the past 2000 years. These are (from east to west): Roman Siscia (Sisak) near the Sava fault in Croatia, Roman Celeia (Celje) at the Savinja/Sava faults in Slovenia, Magdalensberg (Roman) just north of the Karavanka fault, Medieval Villach, the Dobratsch landslide and Medieval Arnoldstein at the junction of Mölltal and Gailtal faults, Medieval Millstatt, Sachsenburg. and Roman Teurnia on the Mölltal Fault, Medieval Lienz (all in Austria) and San Candido on the Pustertal fault, as well as Medieval Merano and Tirol (in Italy) adjacent to the North Giudicarie fault zone. Damaged upright walls of Medieval buildings and deformed floors of Roman settlements testify to local intensity up to IX. Ongoing studies of archaeological stratigraphy and construction history allow the dating of one or more seismic events at each site, ranging from the 1st century AD to the 17th century. It is remarkable that the sites, 20 to 70 km apart, along a <400 km long segment of the Periadriatic Fault system, carry evidence for so many high-intensity destructive events, suggesting that the region is tectonically active.
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ASMI, the Italian Archive of Historical Earthquake Data, is a data collection distributed online that provides seismological data on more than 6600 earthquakes that occurred in the Italian peninsula and surrounding areas from 461 BC to the present day, based on more than 460 seismological data sources. ASMI is the Italian node of AHEAD, the European Archive of Historical Earthquake Data, which is, in turn, the European node providing data on historical earthquakes to EPOS ERIC, the European Plate Observing System, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium. ASMI distributes earthquake parameters, sets of macroseismic intensity data and other details about earthquake effects, together with the bibliographical reference of the data source and, if possible the data source itself. ASMI’s web portal allows users to query the data by earthquake or by data source, and to download the earthquake parameters and macroseismic intensities and represent them on interactive maps and tables. ASMI is updated regularly with new data on past and recent earthquakes. ASMI is the basic source of data for the Italian Macroseismic Database (DBMI) and the Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes (CPTI). This article describes the archive content and structure, its main features and functionalities, and its potential seismological research applications.
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This paper illustrates the activities of EMERSITO, an emergency task force of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV, Italy) devoted to site effects and microzonation studies, during the seismic sequence that occurred close to the Adriatic coast in Central Italy since November 9th, 2022, following the Mw 5.5 mainshock localised in the sea. In particular, we describe the steps that led to the deployment of a temporary network of seismic stations in the urban area of Ancona, the main city of the Adriatic coastline. Data collected by the temporary Ancona network (identification code 6N, doi: 10.13127/sd/qctgd6c-3a, EMERSITO Working Group, 2024) from November 2022 to the end of February 2023 have been preliminary analysed with different techniques to characterise the deployment sites, and are now available for further and detailed studies.
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The Catalogue lists earthquakes that occurred in Italy between 461 B.C. and 1997, and earthquakes that occurred in the general Mediterranean area between the VIII century b.C. and the XV century. Italian earthquakes are based on the latest release of the Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in Italia (Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes), commonly referred to as CFTI3 (Boschi et al., 2000), with subsequent additions and improvements. The CFTI4 contains all Italian earthquakes having epicentral intensity VIII or larger and a selection of smaller earthquakes (total number of earthquakes: 1257). All data supplied in the Catalogue are based on ad hoc historical investigations and on specifically reinterpreted and discussed historical sources. Since its first 1995 release the Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti has been substantially extended and improved with respect to a) the earthquakes analyzed, b) the number of historical sources considered, and c) the number of assessed intensities. The following diagrams illustrate the improvements between 1995 and 2007. Mediterranean earthquakes are based on two catalogues: the Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century (Guidoboni et al., 1994), containing 300 earthquakes that involved 19 present-day countries around the Mediterranean, and on the Catalogue of Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Mediterranean area from the 11th to the 15th century (Guidoboni and Comastri, 2005), containing 383 earthquakes relative to 19 countries. Overall the CFTI4 containes 1,739 earthquakes, 482 of which occurred outside of Italy. Both catalogues report historical sources in their original language. The Catalogue is accessible through a specifically designed web-GIS interface. All commands are easy to use and fully described in English in the Help section. Due to the nature and history of the Catalogue, however, the comment texts that accompany all Italian earthquakes are currently available only in Italian. To allow their visualization in the web-GIS environment of the Catalogue, data on Mediterranean earthquakes have been reorganized following the same standards and format as the data on Italian earthquakes. Nevertheless, some of the information available for Italian earthquakes may not be readily available for all Mediterranean earthquakes. General information on the adopted method of historical research and on the structure and contents of the Catalogue is given in a series of articles published in a special issue of ANNALI DI GEOFISICA (vol.43, N. 4, August 2000) along with CFTI3 (Boschi et al., 2000). Although there have been significant advancements since the year 2000, these articles describe satisfactorily the main research issues, most of which are still the object of scientific debate.
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The macroseismic scale used for the classification of the more than 33100 seismic effects of the Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes (CFTI3) is the Mercalli Cancani Sieberg (MCS). As in all scales, the use of the MCS scale in determining the macroseismic intensity of historical earthquakes involves difficulties regarding the classification of descriptions of a quality nature. These descriptions often lack standardisation as regards levels of information and the semantic value of the statements, and there are also various levels of description of the damage in relation to the various economic and building contexts. As is known, the intensity scales were compiled to classify the effects of earthquakes contemporary to the observers. The scales are therefore classification tools designed to be applied from direct observations. The general criteria used in assessment of the intensity degrees are those of a direct comparison between the descriptive outlines gained from historical research and the descriptions given by the different degrees of the scale. While this is true in a general sense, there are a number of cases where the interpretation may vacillate when the context examined contains no elements of clarification, in relation to the levels of detail of the research or the context. To understand how the many problems connected to the assessment of intensity of seismic scenarios carried out from historical sources have been solved the criteria applied are here described.
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During the analysis of the historical seismicity of Italy, territorial and social elements emerged that in the long term have strongly influenced the effects of the earthquakes. These elements are here presented as historical variables of the degree of intensity. The Italian context is characterised by a long and continuous history of housing, with profound historical and economic changes. The effects of the earthquakes are influenced by population density, the verticalism of the buildings - from the thirteenth century - and the building techniques. The latter have always been highly diversified, not only in the various historical periods, but also within the same time-span, on the same territory, because of the strong geographic differences which characterise the Italian area (coasts, mountains, plains, etc.). This contribution provides a synthetic assessment of these variables in relation to the seismic effects described in the historical sources. The authors expect to be able to better calibrate in future the evaluation of the seismic effects in relation to building characteristics.
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Knowledge of the urban seismic scenario raises complex elements for technical and cultural consideration which may improve the analysis of the conservation and restoration of historical buildings and monuments. These elements cover various specialised viewpoints, from historical seismology and the history of architecture and town planning, to engineering and economic and social history. In this paper we have outlined a conceptual framework based on three aspects. First, the definition of seismic disaster which is the result of the interaction between the activity of seismogenetic sources and the characteristics of buildings. The next aspect is the characteristic proper to strong earthquakes as factors of change, sometimes of entire settlements. Thirdly, we have stressed the fact that one must take into consideration the variety of administrative and economic situations in the Italian territory from the fall of the Roman Empire to date as they may have important implications for the analysis of the effects of a large earthquake on the human environment. The demographic impact of earthquakes is historically correlated to the economic condition of the damaged sites. The urbanistic consequences are addressed once the problems concerning the planning of the reconstruction and its accomplishment are solved. Finally, we have tackled the problem of seismic events of a lower destructive level in the art and tourist cities.
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In 1995, we published the first release of the Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in Italia, 461 a.C. - 1980, in Italian (Boschi et al., 1995). Two years later this was followed by a second release, again in Italian, that included more earthquakes, more accurate research and a longer time span (461 B.C. to 1990) (Boschi et al., 1997). Aware that the record of Italian historical seismicity is probably the most extensive of the whole world, and hence that our catalogue could be of interest for a wider interna-tional readership, Italian was clearly not the appropriate language to share this experience with colleagues from foreign countries. Three years after publication of the second release therefore, and after much additional research and fine tuning of methodologies and algorithms, I am proud to introduce this third release in English. All the tools and accessories have been translated along with the texts describing the development of the underlying research strategies and current contents. The English title is Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes, 461 B.C. to 1997. This Preface briefly describes the scientific context within which the Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes was conceived and progressively developed. The catalogue is perhaps the most impor-tant outcome of a well-established joint project between the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica, the leading Italian institute for basic and applied research in seismology and solid earth geophysics, and SGA (Storia Geofisica Ambiente), a private firm specialising in the historical investigation and systematisation of natural phenomena. In her contribution "Method of investigation, typology and taxonomy of the basic data: navigating between seismic effects and historical contexts", Emanuela Guidoboni outlines the general framework of modern historical seismology, its complex relation with instrumental seismology on the one hand and historical research on the other. This presentation also highlights the many other contributions making up the Introduction to this third edition of the catalogue. The authors hope that it will make for informative and useful reading.
Article
This contribution presents the methods of research and filing of the historical data which are at the basis of the Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes (CFTI3). Seen from the point of view of historical research, this is the first research carried out in Italy with continuous methods and objectives exceeding 15 years. Here the basic, historical and scientific sources that were used are presented, considering the peculiarity of these sources in relation to the testimonies of the seismic effects. In total, there are 25 780 recorded and analysed bibliographical entries, which have disclosed and located 33 150 seismic effects from the ancient world till 1997. The basic work has not only consisted of a meticulous indexing of the sources and texts, but also of a new outlining of the particular historical and cultural contexts, in which 605 analysed strong earthquakes occurred. Moreover, a small historical guide is presented to help orientate the user of the CFTI3. The complex history of the present-day Italian territory (which has passed for centuries under very different dominations and institutional structures) has demanded a non-superficial analysis of these contexts in order to better trace and interpret the testimonies of the seismic effects on buildings as well as on the natural environment. The work, carried out with groups of specialised researchers, has also led to the compiling of a database capable of dynamically managing the interpreted information. The open structure of this work allows for the continuous data updating and expansion.