Salò Prepares Centennial Earthquake Commemoration and Safety Exercise
At the end of the month, Salò will commemorate (with an exercise and a conference) the hundred-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that caused severe damage along the Riviera. The epicenter was identified near Caccavero, now Campoverde, a suburb of Salò. The intensity was between seventh and eighth degree on the Mercalli scale. The earthquake struck at 3:50 PM on October 30, 1901.
“The initial movement,” wrote Pio Bettoni, director of the meteorological observatory, “was undoubtedly jarring and lasted for two to three seconds. Following the vertical shock was a terrible oscillatory shaking. Ceilings, cornices, chimneys, and crosses from churches, as well as bell tower domes and parts of ancient and poorly built structures, fell. Cracks, almost always vertical, opened in houses. On the lakeside beach, some gardens and terraces subsided. The seismic activity lasted 102 days, with a total of 38 shocks.” There was one fatality.
The Parliament approved a special law to repair the damages and to build the new lakeside promenade. On Sunday the 28th, in commemoration of the centenary, a civil protection exercise will take place. At 8:00 AM, volunteers will set up a base camp at Canottieri. From 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, a simulated earthquake will be conducted, involving the evacuation of a building.
The residents of the alleys in the historic center will be led to safe locations. Boats from the lake will intervene to assist those seeking escape routes into the gulf. The exercise will include searching for people beneath rubble with specialized instruments, aiding the injured, monitoring gas leaks, fire prevention, and accounting for those who have fled.
Participation and activities during the commemorations
The Municipality issued a call: extras are needed for the exercise. The high schools (Battisti and Liceo Fermi) have guaranteed a good number of students, who will then catalog portals, frescoes, and other artistic assets (either survived or destroyed). On Monday the 29th, in the evening, a conference on the seismicity of the Garda basin will be held in the council chamber, organized by the Ateneo and the Municipality, in collaboration with the Parco Comunità Montana.
After the authorities’ introduction, speakers will include Piero Belotti, vice-president of the Istituto Tecnico Battisti and former mayor of Gardone Riviera; geologist Piero Fiaccavento; Pasquale Maggi, city councilor who presides over the environment and roadways commission; and Maria Teresa Cruciani Foffa, head of the observatory and seismic station. Photographs from the 1901 earthquake, showing damaged houses, will be displayed.
As part of the centenary events, Belotti and Giuliano Fusi are preparing a book that will be presented in mid-December. The authors began their research focusing on a student, the new surveyor Marco Ghiselli, gathering documents and images from Giuseppe Zanardelli’s era, testimonies from the nuns of the Visitation monastery, residents’ accounts, and records from municipal archives.
