The Seismic Map of Italy

Particularly for our clients from the US west coast, where the matter can hardly be considered academic, we present the information your real estate agent in Tuscany, La Marche and Umbria is unlikely to tell you.

On the basis of the frequency and intensity of past earthquakes, 45% of the land area of Italy is divided up into 3 earthquake zones: Category 1 (red) is the most severe, and Category 3 (yellow) the least severe zone of seismic activity:

Note that nearly all of La Marche and Umbria, and over half of Tuscany lie within one of these earthquake zones. In fact, 40% of the Italian population live in them.

For an idea of how serious this can be, take a look at this EERI report.

The rest of the country, coloured white on the map, is unclassified - which means it is considered low risk. Note that this area includes all of the Piedmont wine region.