After briefly analysing the geological and geodynamic structure of the Strait of Messina area, its faults and its intense seismic activity, the results of high-precision spirit levelling carried out before and after the 1908 earthquake are reviewed together with the measurements carried out by the Istituto Geografico Militare during 1967 and 1970–1971. These results are then compared with the results of a high-precision levelling survey carried out in 1981 in the metropolitan area of Messina as the first part of a global survey in progress in the whole zone of the Strait. The comparison shows strong agreement in the trend of the coseismic slip following the 1908 event and the aseismic slip in the 1967–1970 and 1970–1981 periods.