The eastern Alps earthquake of 25 January 1348: new insights from old sources

Abstract

The eastern Alps earthquake of 25 January 1348 is one of the few powerful earthquakes located in central Europe, and it is also one of the better-known European earthquakes of the Middle Ages. Its many studies, by different researchers, rely on almost the same collection of historical data, but set out different earthquake scenarios, from which various epicentres and seismic sources are derived. We tried to find a common solution by focusing on the main sources available on the most damaged areas, trying to accurately identify as many earthquake-affected localities as possible, and re-considering all data homogeneously and transparently, in order to allow fruitful criticism and facilitate the work of future researchers. Our study increases the number of earthquake-affected localities, checks the effects in Carniola and confirms the epicentral location proposed recently and included in the latest Italian earthquake catalogue, i.e. in the Camporosso saddle, next to the border with Carinthia and Carniola.