1908 Messina Earthquake

An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.1 struck the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from mainland Italy, at dawn on 28 December 1908, shaking for 37 seconds and reaching a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. About ten minutes later the sea withdrew from both shores of the strait before a tsunami as high as 12 meters struck in three successive waves. With around 120,000 people killed, including at least 75,000 in Messina and its suburbs and another 25,000 in Reggio Calabria, where at least 91 percent of Messina's structures were destroyed or left irreparable, it remains the deadliest earthquake recorded in European history.