1920 Garfagnana earthquake
Due to good news coverage, availability of official documents on the damage and abundance of recordings from surveillance stations throughout Europe, it was regarded as a first-rate case study to improve knowledge of tectonics and macroseismic analysis.Near the epicenter, an area of about 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi) from Fivizzano in Lunigiana and the upper Garfagnana, received X (Extreme) damage, including the collapse of many buildings.Many provinces reported consequences from the shocks: nearby Lucca and Massa Carrara, Modena, Parma, Pisa, Pistoia, Reggio Emilia and La Spezia.In Pontremoli the shock destroyed the rooftop of the Chiesa della Misericordia church: debris fell on the ancient organ, damaging it.Since rescue operations were mostly managed on a local scale (city or town, lacking any national coordinating authority), that was a minor detriment to relief work.Garfagnana and Lunigiana were mostly farming areas, so at the time of the disaster, most men were out in mountain pastures or going to their fields, leaving their wives and children at home.In Fivizzano, the ancient San Giovanni church – built by ancestors of Pope Nicholas V – sustained only partial damage to the roof, but was nevertheless demolished, along with a Medici palace and the Teatro degli Imperfetti theater,[7] in the rush to take advantage of the disaster; new housing and commercial buildings were erected on the valuable lots formerly occupied by the monuments.Despite being inhabited since ancient times, the region experienced rapid colonization in the Middle Ages, thanks to agricultural techniques allowing the exploitation of the steep hills and to the new wealth acquired by the nearby Republic of Florence.According to records made by Bartolomeo Pucci, captain of Florence's army, the town of Fivizzano was struck by a major earthquake in 1481, with an intensity estimated at VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli scale.Fivizzano was struck again on 15 October 1939, but while the energy release of the quake was larger, the hypocenter was much deeper (between 20 and 26 kilometres, or 12 to 16 mi, down) and damage was significant, but limited.