Italian Hazards: An Overview

What To Be Most Aware Of

While almost all types of natural hazards occur throughout Italy, the most dangerous ones would have to be earthquakes, land subsidizing, and flooding.
Strong earthquakes are felt because there is a major subduction zone on the Italian border. The African plate is going under the lighter continental Eurasian plate. This process also leads to volcanic eruptions, but this hazard is not as life threatening as the others listed. Relatively low magnitude earthquakes occur year round while a handful of earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 occur every decade. The last major earthquake registered at a magnitude 6.3 in 2009 and it killed about 309 people.
Flooding is starting to become a real problem in Italy. Rising sea levels and excessive downpours have caused flooding in places like Po Valley, Florence, Pisa, and Venice. (Videos of heavy flooding) Land subsidence is common in Venice and there was instance of a sinkhole popping up in the middle of an intersection in Naples, due to water pipe burst. The Venice problem is one that all of its citizens are worried about. Each year, the city sinks about 1-2 millimeters on the east side. Experts believe the sinking is caused by the extraction of groundwater near the city and centuries of buildings created. Rising sea-levels plus the sinking of the city causes floods throughout the year.

How To Relieve The Pressure

The Italian government has done well to address these concerns and to develop systems to lessen the impact of these hazards. In Venice, laws have been placed to stop the removal of groundwater. A multi-billion dollar plan was created to install floodgates around the city to prevent heavy flooding. To prevent heavy loss of life caused by earthquakes, early warning systems have been in place to analyze data from a network of sensors in the ground and water of areas that are at high risk. These systems can guarantee an alert up to 12 seconds ahead of an earthquake within 100 km of the epicenter. One idea I would implement to high-risk earthquake areas is the improvement of older structures. Buildings should be rebuilt or restructured to be able to withstand high magnitude earthquakes. This would definitely decrease the amount of people killed from falling structures.

After the older cities complied with the stronger building codes, I would focus my attention to the problem in Venice. Something needs to be done to preserve the culture that is the city on the river. People are fearing the city will be under water within the next few decades, so maybe the installation of floodgates could prevent a lot of the water from covering all of the city, as it usually does when it floods. It is hard to think of a realistic solution to prevent the city from sinking. There is an interesting idea thought up by a team of engineers to dig 12 holes within a 6 mile radius around the city and pumping water through them 2,300 ft underground. "The water will expand the layer of sand that lies underneath, which when it moves against a higher level of waterproof clay, would push up the whole city by a foot over the next 10 years," the Padua scientists claim. This process would hopefully restore the amount the city has sunk over the past 300 years. It is just a theory but some are optimistic of the results.

Come Visit Me (Or Don't)

If I were to settle down in any place, it would have to be on the island of Sicily. The presence of Mt. Etna on the island is not enough to scare me because there is enough time to get away if it erupts slowly. The fertile soil would be a way to obtain an income through farms and vineyards. I would really enjoy being on an island where i could drive to any beach I'd like. Also, hiking on a volcano would be a pretty awesome experience, especially on one with an ongoing volcanic eruption. (Star Wars fun fact: the background of the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel was of the Mt. Etna eruption.)

I hope everybody enjoyed learning about natural hazards in Italy as much as I have.

Earthquake Alert System
Sinkhole In Naples
Venice Sinking
Venice Sinking Prevention