Materials for a Catalogue of Italian earthquakes: the case of the strongest earthquake in the Prenestini Mountains (Latium, Italy), March 16, 1883

Abstract

This note presents a critical review of the strongest earthquake (Mw 5.1) attributed to the Monti Prenestini (Latium region) area and quoted in the Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes (CPTI15). Although the event is described with notable parameters (Mw 5.1 and MCS intensity 7), its documentation is remarkably incomplete. Extensive bibliographic and archival research, drawing on contemporary sources and consultation of local newspapers of the time, has systematically failed to identify any account of the alleged earthquake. We believe that the origin of this seismic event is most likely due to a printing error that originally appeared in the Bulletin of Italian Volcanism in March 1883. This anomaly was then transmitted and reproduced in subsequent catalogs and literature without any verification or corrective amendment to date. We conclude that the seismic event of March 16, 1883, never actually occurred. An addendum regarding the July 17, 1884, Palestrina earthquake is included at the end of the note.