Justin's First Blog

Italy, like Monterey, is a peninsula.  There is a lot of Coastal Erosion.  The Italian coastline has a length of about 7500 km, of which about 3950 km (53%) are low or delta coastlines. Sand or gravel beaches stretch for approximately 3,240 km, whereas the remaining part are cliffs plunging into the sea and enclosing small pocket beaches.  About 1600 km (42%) of the low or delta coastlines, including 42% of Italian beaches, are already under erosion. Abruzzo, Basilicata, and Calabria regions have the highest recorded amount of coastal erosion with an estimated  58-63% of their coastlines eroded.   It seems as though this is one of the hazards that Italy is taking seriously.  In the Marche Region, where significant coastal erosion has occurred.  Steps taken to address it are beach nourishment, cliff stabilization and removal of a portion of artificial reef.  The leading cause of coastal erosion in Italy are dam construction in rivers (thus restricting sediment supply to the coast) and l

Extreme weather presents significant challenges to many areas in Italy.  Heavy rainfall stands out among this group of hazards.  Just this week, the west coast of Italy, in Tuscany, dealt with extreme rainfall that turned the roadways into rivers with a recorded rainfall of 1.3 inches in just 15 minutes.  Italy is full of trees and extremely aged buildings, which makes extreme rainfall a significant hazard.  The heaviest rainfall usually occurs in Northern/Central Italy which are heavy mountain areas.  Rainfall in Northern Italy is very similar to rainfall in Northern California in totality. Things that can be done by Individuals to mitigate hazards to themselves and property are to:     -Have a safety plan.  Have resources and food/water available in case of power outages or road                   closures.     -Plant trees (not too close to your house) and other vegetation to help absorb waterfall.     -Do not attempt to cross waterflow created by heavy rainfall.. Things Government c

As I expected, Italy is certainly no stranger to mass wasting.  Given their location in relation to two major tectonic plates, the formation of mountains and hills are prevalent in Italy, specifically in the Campania region.  If you have been anywhere in Italy, you know there are a lot of hills because your legs are definitely sore the entire time.  As you can see in the map below, mass wasting is extremely prevalent in all the mountain regions from the Italian Alps to the North, running all the way down the center of Italy, to the Campania region in the South.  The major triggers for mass wasting are caused by earthquakes, but are primarily caused by rain and flooding.  Mass wasting is especially dangerous in Italy due to the dense population in mountain regions.  Since 1950, at least 4.105 people have died in 661 landslides.   The Italian government spends approximately .9 billion Euros per year managing damage caused by landslides.  The most dangerous rockslide to occur in Italy ha

Almost 2,000 years ago one of the most iconic volcano eruptions occurred in Italy and not only has the world not forgotten, but it's one of the most studied volcanic places on earth.  Scientists from around the world study what’s considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world (due to its proximity with the human population).  Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano on mainland Europe, is not only responsible for destroying the once vibrant city of Pompeii, but also preserving it.  After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, what is known as a “pyroclastic flow” engulfed the city.  This simply put, is a mixture of deadly gas and ash which contributed to the 2,000 casualties.  The city stayed preserved by being completely covered in approximately 20 feet of ash.   At the moment, Italy is home to three active volcanoes.  All 3 volcanoes are stratovolcanoes.  The most active volcano in Europe is on Mount Etna. The last eruption occurred only a couple of months ago. It s

As I learned last week, Italy is the resident of two major tectonic plates.  It comes to me no surprise that almost the entire country is either in a moderate or major earthquake hazard area.  Looking at the seismic hazard map, the biggest and most likely seismic occurrences primarily occur smack dab in the middle of Italy running south along the mountain ranges.  On the "latest quakes" link you can input Italy and in a 1 year time span Italy has experienced roughly 50 earthquakes with an average magnitude around 5.  Below I've included a chart from National Geographic that simplifies and puts into perspective the energy created from a seismic event.  While the magnitude of 5 energy shows the energy exhausted in relationship with candy bars, the next step up at 6 shows how devastating these events truly are.   Italy currently does not seem prepared to deal with another major seismic event.  Italy is inundated with historical building which not only require cutting through

Italy has had its fair share of disasters caused by tectonic plates.  The country sits on top of two tectonic plates, the African and Eurasian plates.  Below you will see that Italy is covered mostly by the Eurasian plate with the African plate at its southern border.  It was interesting to learn that volcanoes are generally found at the border of tectonic plates and it is the case where most of Italy's volcanoes are found.   While Italy sits on top of two tectonic plates, there is a third plate that has and still does affect Italy known as the Adriatic plate.  Approximately 100 million years ago the formation of a lot of Italy's mountains were caused by the collision of the Adriatic plate and present day Europe.  This caused the plate to begin subducting and brought upon the loss of the microcontinent known as Adria.   The plates have caused high magnitude earthquakes as well as the formation of volcanoes, which have caused catastrophes dating back to the infamous eruption (Mo