“I luoghi di Mercalli”: a travelling exhibition as a tool for scientists to dialogue with the public on volcanoes and earthquakes

Milano, Italia

On March 19, 1914 Giuseppe Mercalli, a seismologist and volcanologist, well-known around the world for the
Intensity scale of earthquakes bearing his name, died tragically. A hundred years after, the Istituto Nazionale di
Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) has promoted a variety of activities and cultural events that will take place under the
Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic within a year, the so called “Anno Mercalliano” (the Year of
Mercalli).
The opening ceremony took place in Naples, Italy, on March 19, 2014, in the Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele
II. A scientific conference was held with the participation of experts from INGV and the university of Milano –
Bicocca, and presentations of students. On that day the exhibition entitled “I luoghi di Mercalli” (Mercalli's places) was
also inaugurated, at the presence of local authorities.
The exhibition, organized by INGV, was realized in collaboration with the high school Vittorio Emanuele II, where
Mercalli has been teaching for 19 years, and the Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa, where he was professor
of natural sciences.
A biographical and geographical description of the places where Mercalli operated introduces the exhibition, which
is organized in sections:
- Mercalli educator (he taught at high schools in Reggio Calabria and Naples);
- Mercalli volcanologist (Mercalli studied Vesuvius volcanic activity for more than twenty years, he was a scientific
witness of the Vesuvius 1906 eruption, and of the eruptions occurred at Vulcano (1888-90) and Stromboli (1891)
islands.
- Mercalli seismologist (Mercalli Intensity scale definition, based on his experience as witness of catastrophic
earthquakes, such as Casamicciola in 1883 and Messina in 1908).
Another section deals with the Vesuvius Observatory, directed by Mercalli between 1911 and 1914, and the
description of the three active volcanoes of the Campania region (Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ischia island), which
have been the subject of studies by the well-known scientist. The exhibition is enriched by documents, manuscripts,
photos and field notebooks of Mercalli.
It is not intended to be only a celebratory exhibition; rather it is designed as a tool for dissemination of scientific
culture and to raise awareness about seismic and volcanic hazards.
In the exhibition path a continuous thread between the figure of Mercalli as a researcher and the role of an Earth
Science researcher today is highlighted, pointing to the development of scientific knowledge in the past century. The
goal is to improve the capability of learning from the disasters occurred in the past to implement preventive actions to
safely deal with future events.
The exhibition is travelling and will be provided on request to institutions and schools.