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HISTORICAL TSUNAMI RECORDDecember 28, 1908

Major Ocean Tsunami Generated (Historical Record)

This undersea earthquake generated recorded tsunami waves across coastal and trans-oceanic sectors. Preserved in seismic archive for scientific reference — no active hazard exists.

Seismic Event Dossier05:20 Local (04:20 UTC)(117y ago)

M 7.1 earthquake Sicily, Italy

A magnitude 7.1 (MW) earthquake occurred on 1908-12-28, 05:20 local time (04:20 UTC) (117y ago), centered 86 km NE of Catania (Italy). The hypocenter was located at a shallow depth of 10 km. Primary telemetry verified by USGS/ISC-GEM.

Historical Landmark Earthquake

#34 of All Time

Curated Global Seismic Archive (1700–Present)

Top-100 Earthquakes

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck ⁨Sicily, Italy⁩ on December 28, 1908. Source: ⁨Messina Straits Blind Normal Fault⁩. Documented deaths: 80,000.

Documented Fatalities80,000Source: NOAA NCEI Significant Earthquake Database
Fault KinematicsNormal
Equivalent Energy673.6 kt TNT

Magnitude

MW
M 7.1

673.6 kt TNT

Depth

10 km
10 km

shallow (Shallow crustal)

PAGER Impact

red
82,000 fatalities

Injuries: > 5,000 · ~66.5M felt

Interactive Epicenter & Fault Map

38.15°N, 15.60°E
Fault5 km
Messina Straits Blind Normal Fault
Normal · ~15.0 mm/yr
Felt byMMI III+
~66.5M exposed
~3.8M strong shaking
Primary SolutionUSGS/ISC-GEM
USGS/ISC-GEM#official19081228042027_30reviewed
1 agencies reporting
Setting38.1°N
Sicily, Calabria & Campi Flegrei
Continental / Inland crustal

Seismic Activity & Aftershock Sequence

Timeline of foreshocks, main rupture, aftershocks and machine learning risk probability evolution.

M0.0M4.0M8.0100%50%0%MainshockDec 27, 04 PMDec 28, 04 AMDec 28, 04 PMDec 29, 04 AMDec 29, 04 PMDec 30, 04 AMDec 30, 04 PMDec 31, 04 AMM7.1
Hover or tap a point to inspect aftershocks and risk probability curve.
<35 km (Shallow)35–70 km (Intermediate)>70 km (Deep)Mainshock

Situation Monitoring

Continuous verification
Multi-agency verification of casualties, tsunami alerts, and seismic sequence

Key facts so far

Casualties
Damage assessment in progress
Tsunami Status
TSUNAMI WARNING
NOAA PTWC & regional buoys
Citizen Felt Reports
0
No felt reports submitted
Macroseismic DYFI verification
Aftershock Sequence
Monitoring
Aftershocks expected (Omori law)
LightGBM hazard model forecast
Multi-agency seismic telemetry active. Awaiting wire headlines.

Agency Discrepancy Matrix (Cross-Network Verification)

Comparing multi-network solutions from primary and teleseismic monitoring agencies.

Network / SourceMagnitude (Scale & Diff)Depth & DiffEpicenter & Shift (Δd)ConsensusEvent ID / Data
USGS
United States Geological Survey · Global / US
M7.1(Mw)Ref
10.0 kmRef
38.15°, 15.60°Origin
Authoritative
official19081228042027_30

Why do agency magnitudes differ? Seismological agencies use different instrumentation networks, crustal velocity models, and mathematical magnitude scales (e.g. Moment Magnitude Mw vs Local Richter ML vs Surface Wave Ms). Differences of 0.1–0.3 are common and reflect physical observation geometry rather than errors.

Where it was felt

6 settlements

Shaking intensity is modelled from magnitude, depth and distance (GMPE attenuation), not reported by residents.

TownDistanceIntensity
Reggio di Calabria · Calabria5.3 kmMMI X
Messina · Sicily7.1 kmMMI X
Vibo Valentia · Calabria72 kmMMI VII
Catania · Sicily86 kmMMI VII
Catanzaro · Calabria121 kmMMI VI
Siracusa · Sicily123 kmMMI VI

Tectonic setting

Nearest mapped active fault: Messina Straits Blind Normal Fault, 5 km away, slip rate ~15.0 mm/yr (GEM Global Active Faults).

Regional Seismic Profile

Sicily, Calabria & Campi Flegrei

View live seismic monitoring, historical danger benchmarks, fault slip models and recurrence intervals for this zone.