Garda Earthquake: No Damage Reported in 4-5 Degree Shock

A significant concern, with the lights of many homes suddenly and simultaneously on—almost as if the residents were seeking confirmation and comfort from their neighbors regarding what was happening. These were moments of fear experienced Wednesday evening in the upper Garda area. Moments of endless anxiety for many citizens, while others—contrariwise—did not notice anything at all. This is the peculiarity of the seismic shock that occurred at 10:14 p.m. on Wednesday, estimated by experts to have a power between the 4th and 5th degree on the Mercalli Scale (which measures the damage caused by earthquakes, whereas the Richter scale measures the magnitude of the quake, regardless of the damage it might cause). Fortunately, the reports do not indicate anything beyond understandable concern, as no damages have been reported in the upper Garda towns that felt the shock—Limone, Tremosine, Campione, Tignale, Gargnano—as well as in the Trentino towns of Riva and Arco or in the Venetian towns of Malcesine and Caprino Veronese. The tremor created apprehension but, nonetheless, left no physical trace on people or property. Not everyone was aware of it, it was said—many were already asleep. It also happened that the thunderous noise accompanying the earth’s movement was perhaps heard in one town but not in the neighboring one. In fact, in the end, many twitched—perhaps more out of fear than due to the violence of the tremor, which still left an impression—and some immediately contacted the carabinieri and fire brigade for information and reassurance. Calls continued late into the night to the Foffa Cruciani family, who have managed the Seismological Observatory of Salò for half a century: “We are currently at home and not at the observatory, but in Salò, we didn’t notice anything,” was the response provided in the early hours. Indeed, the shock that struck upper Garda generated fear but is not considered among the strongest or most dangerous, as clarified the following morning at the same observatory. “The 1st and 2nd degrees on the Mercalli scale are difficult to detect. On the upper floors of buildings, one notices the 3rd degree, while the 4th and 5th go unnoticed by those in a car at that moment.” The shock experienced the other evening falls between the 4th and 5th degree, felt clearly but without consequences.

Epicenter and consequences of the shock

Epicenter? The Civil Protection Agency of Rome and the Varese Seismological Center place it in the northern part of the lake, near Limone. “It is not coincidental that the centers that felt the noise and the tremor most distinctly are Limone, Malcesine, and Riva,” they add from the Salò observatory. Fortunately, no damages are reported. “No one has reported anything to me,” explains Marcello Festa, mayor of Gargnano, “and even the carabinieri have no information regarding any damages.” Similar responses come from other towns of Upper Garda closest to the epicenter, such as Tignale or Tremosine. “We have managed the Observatory for 50 years,” say the Foffa Cruciani family, who took over the station from Pio Bettoni, who founded it in 1877, and “we record numerous tremors, many of which are not felt by people, and others, like the latest, without consequences. After all, Italy is three-quarters a seismic zone, and Garda is no exception.” For some time, seismologists have also paid close attention to the Garda region and, more broadly, to Brescia province. This July, at the National Conference of Volcanology in Erice, Brescia was included among Italy’s three highest-risk seismic zones, along with the Strait of Messina and the Monti Peloritani in Tuscany. Beneath our territory runs the same fault that caused the Friuli disaster in 1996: from the Friulian Alps, the colossal underground crack extends to Brescia and rises up to the Adamello, bordering the western part of Lake Garda. Five other faults pass directly beneath the lake. The main fault starts from Monte Baldo, brushes the Sirmione peninsula, and reaches the port of Desenzano. Another fault, from the Venetian side, reaches Portese and continues toward Valsabbia. This is a high-seismic-risk zone: there is no longer any doubt.