by InTrieste
Nearly 50 years after a devastating earthquake reshaped the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, local officials are working to ensure that the memory of the disaster and the reconstruction that followed are preserved for future generations. At a meeting in Trieste on Tuesday, regional leaders announced the creation of a digital archive aimed at documenting the earthquake’s impact and the rebuilding efforts that defined the region’s response.
“It is essential to provide a permanent and accessible record of the earthquake and the reconstruction that followed,” said Cristina Amirante, the region’s councillor for infrastructure and territory, who presided over the meeting. “With this in mind, we approach 2026, the fiftieth anniversary of an event that forever changed the history of our region.”
The initiative, led by the University of Udine, will focus on digitizing a vast collection of materials and documents related to the earthquake. A key component of the project will be a multilingual online platform, La Forza della Terra (“The Power of the Earth”), which will be available in Italian, English, and Friulian. The goal, officials said, is to create a central hub for research and education, making archival resources widely accessible.
A crucial element of the project will be the development of a structured narrative that captures the event’s historical significance while allowing for deeper exploration of technical aspects of reconstruction. “The platform must present a coherent account from which various technical and historical perspectives can be examined, without losing sight of the broader meaning of what became known as the ‘Friuli Model’—a reconstruction effort with no prior precedent,” said Riccardo Riccardi, the regional councillor for civil protection.
The committee overseeing the initiative includes representatives from the region’s civil protection authority, municipal associations, engineering and architectural organizations, as well as academic and archival institutions. Andrea Zannini, a historian at the University of Udine, described the digital portal as a research hub that will integrate and enhance existing materials related to the earthquake and its aftermath.
The archive will be housed at Palazzo Scarpa in Gemona del Friuli, a town that was heavily impacted by the earthquake and is now undergoing restoration efforts. The regional government has allocated between one and two million euros to fund the project.
“The goal is to create a resource that is accessible to all, but especially beneficial for younger generations and scholars around the world,” Amirante said.
