Earthquakes in Italy

Italy is the most seismically active country in western Europe, caught in the slow collision between the African and Eurasian plates. The Apennines run the length of the peninsula as an actively stretching mountain belt, producing shallow and often damaging earthquakes, while in the far south the Calabrian arc sits above a subducting slab that also feeds Etna, Vesuvius and the restless Campi Flegrei.

The record is severe: the 1908 Messina earthquake (M7.1) and its tsunami killed on the order of 80,000 people, the deadliest in European history. More recently the 1980 Irpinia quake (M6.9), the 2009 L'Aquila quake (M6.3) and the 2016 central Italy sequence around Amatrice and Norcia showed how destructive shallow Apennine earthquakes can be, even at moderate magnitude.

The figures below are drawn live from the EarthquakeIndex archive for the area shown. No one can predict when the next earthquake will strike, but you can follow every event the moment EMSC records it.

Italy seismic activity at a glance

• 120,140 Earthquakes on record
• 4,092 In the last 12 months
• M6.5 Strongest ever 2016
• M2.0 Most recent 24 Oct 2026

Recent earthquakes in Italy

The last 30 days, newest first.

Live data from the EarthquakeIndex archive · source EMSC.

Explore Italy on the live map →