2012 Northern Italy earthquakes

2012 Northern Italy earthquakes

USGS 20 May intensity map
UTC time
	2012-05-20 02:03:53
	2012-05-29 07:00:03
ISC event
	601025379
	605482196
USGS-ANSS
	ComCat
	ComCat
Local date
	20 May 2012
	29 May 2012
Local time
	04:03
	09:00
Magnitude	6.1 Mw
	5.8 Mw
Depth	5.6 km (3.5 mi)
Epicenter	44°54′N 11°14′E / 44.9°N 11.24°E / 44.9; 11.24
Type	Thrust
Areas affected	Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Max. intensity	MMI VIII (Severe)
Casualties	27 dead (7 on 20 May and 20 on 29 May), at least 50 injured in the first quake and 350 in the second, up to 45,000 homeless in total[1][2]

In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia region.

The first earthquake, registering magnitude 6.1, struck in the Emilia-Romagna region, about 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of the city of Bologna, on 20 May at 04:03 local time (02:03 UTC). The epicentre was between Finale Emilia, Bondeno and Sermide. Two aftershocks of magnitude 5.2 occurred, one approximately an hour after the main event^[3] and another approximately eleven hours after the main event.^[4] Seven people were killed.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the same area nine days later, on 29 May, causing an additional twenty deaths and widespread damage, particularly to buildings already weakened by the 20 May earthquake.^[5] The epicentre was in Medolla: the quake itself occurred at a depth of about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).^[6]