| Abstract: | During 1770–1820 Northeastern Italy was hit by a series of high intensity earthquakes affecting the Piedmont area of Friuli from Maniago to Tolmezzo. Greater knowledge of these events, which seem to be extremely circumscribed and to have damaged only a small number of localities (1776, 1789, 1794: Tramonti; 1788, 1790: Tolmezzo; 1812: Cavasso), could make a significant contribution towards defining better the potential seismic hazard in Northern Friuli. A review of these shocks has been undertaken within the framework of activities organized by the macroseismic working group of the National Group for Protection against Earthquakes (GNDT). The critical revision of the information gathered by the programme ‘analysis through the compilations’, has stressed the need for a new interpretative method and for great caution to be exercised when assessing reliable intensity degrees, to avoid possible inconsistencies in their values. This preliminary investigation allowed us to identify both doubtful and some misestimated shocks. A rough macroseismic intensity distribution pattern of each event, showing that the earthquakes were felt over an area (including Italian, Slovene and Austrian territories) coherent with the epicentre intensity, has been also delineated. |
