Upside-Down Landscapes: Seismicity and Seismic Disasters in Italy

Abstract

The environment is not only the result of what can be seen or planned. There are also some hidden, geologically stable features, such as the ones that cause earthquakes, and that strongly interact with the inhabited world. For their geographical diffusion, the frequency and sheer scope of the damage they cause, earthquakes in Italy represent one of the least resolved aspects in the relationship between residential characteristics and the natural environment. The analysis of the Calabria, as case history, highlights the importance to examine carefully the relationship between strong seismic activity and social and economic development. The lifestyles, use of the territory, expectations concerning safety and the destructiveness of the earthquakes today implies a synergy between different disciplinary contributions. The frequency and the “predictability” of the seismic activity in many Italian areas should make the seismic scenarios a lot less sudden, actually we might even say they could be expected.