Abstract
Forty years from the 23 November 1980, Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake date represents much more than a commemoration. It has been a fracture for the history of Italy. Important for many reasons, this earthquake has been a watershed for the studies and the public role of research. Historians have been solicited to work on the topic by scholars of the geological and seismological sciences: in the face of the repetition of disastrous seismic events in Italy, earthquakes remained ‘outside the history’. However, the real difficulty of socio-historical science is not neglecting seismic events and their consequences, but rather the reluctance to think of ‘earthquake’ as a specific interpretative context. This means to deal with the discipline ‘statute’ as well as the public commitment of scholars. In this way, the circle earthquake-history-memory requires broad interdisciplinarity, which offers insights to work on historical consciousness and cultural memory: important aspects to understand the past as well as to favour a seismic risk awareness.
Highlights
Forty years from the 23 November 1980, much has been said about the Irpinia earthquake, and any socio-historical reading can be submerged by such vast records
When the Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake struck, the trauma of the disaster was immediately associated with the vivid memory of Belice (1968) and Friuli earthquakes (1976)
Because of the energy released, the highest number of victims, the responsibilities and the consequences, the Irpinia earthquake immediately appeared in the international press as the worst Italian disaster from the Second World War [12,13], grabbing more attention due to the deaths, the slowness of rescue, the villages erased by maps [42]
Summary
Forty years from the 23 November 1980, much has been said about the Irpinia earthquake, and any socio-historical reading can be submerged by such vast records. The event immediately focused the world’s gaze on that little-known and remote land of Southern Italy; the concern was shown by the generous chain of international solidarity. The memory of this broad mobilization is alive and still visible in the place names, as in the case of the “Villaggio Italo-Canadese” of San Mango sul Calore— built with the help of Canadians—or the “Bergamo condominium” of Lioni, funded by Bergamo’s citizens (Northern Italy) [1]. First of all, who rushed to help and to study: working on the field as well as on theoretical elaboration, they rewrote the history of earthquakes in Italy, generating tools and knowledge, nowadays patrimony of all. The Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake appeared, from the start, a fracture in the history of Italy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
