1570_Ferrara_earthquake

The 1570 Ferrara earthquake struck the Italian city of Ferrara on November 16 and 17, 1570. After the initial shocks, a sequence of aftershocks continued for four years, with over 2,000 in the period from November 1570 to February 1571.The same area was struck, centuries later, by another major earthquake of comparable intensity.
The disaster destroyed half the city, permanently marked many of the buildings left standing, and directly contributed to – but was not the sole cause of – a long-term decline of the city lasting until the 19th century.
The earthquake caused the first documented episode of soil liquefaction in the Po Valley, and one of the oldest occurrences of the event known outside of paleoseismology. It led to the establishment of an earthquake observatory which published to very high regard, and the drafting of some of the first-known building designs based on a scientific seismic-resistant approach.