Reconstructions, transfers and forced abandonments brought about by earthquakes and landslides in the historical centres of Southern Italy: The role of primary sources

Italy is among the most prone Mediterranean countries to extreme natural menaces, such as earthquakes and landslides. These can cause serious damage to the properties and consequent changes in urban areas and historical centres especially, due to their high vulnerability. Starting from these preliminary remarks the paper deals with an ongoing research activity aimed at analyzing in depth and in a systematic way the damage and the consequent abandonments, transfers, and forced reconstructions caused by significant earthquakes and/or landslides in the historical centres of Southern Italy during the twentieth century. To make clear the methodology followed, the paper analyses three case studies related to the same number of historical centres menaced by mass movements and/or earthquake phenomena. The final aim of the research is to setup a reference Web Gis Atlas that will be a further tool that the stakeholders will find useful to improve mitigation risk actions against the two main geological menaces acting in Italy.