The Belice , Sicilian : 'Belìci' , is a river of western Sicily . It is about 77 kilometres (48 mi) long. From its main source near Piana degli Albanesi it runs south and west for 45.5 kilometres (28.3 mi) as the Belice Destro ("right Belice") until it is joined near Poggioreale by its secondary branch, the 42-kilometre (26 mi) Belice Sinistro ("left Belice"), which rises on the slopes of Rocca Busambra . The Belice proper then flows for another 30 kilometres (19 mi) or so before entering the Strait of Sicily to the east of the ancient Greek archaeological site of Selinunte . During Classical times it was known as the Hypsas .
8-535: The middle section of the Belice valley was hit by the January 1968 Belice earthquake which completely destroyed numerous centres of population, including Gibellina , Montevago and Salaparuta . Three hundred and seventy people died, a thousand were injured and some 70,000 people were made homeless. This Sicilian location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to
16-537: A thin-skinned fold and thrust belt . The Gela Nappe consists of Pliocene - Quaternary age sedimentary rocks deposited in the earlier foredeep , thrust up onto the thick carbonate sequence of the Pelagian-Hyblean Platform of the African plate. There was a sequence of six M 5+ earthquakes, making this western Sicily's largest historical seismic event, beginning with a M 5.2 shock at 12:28 on
24-582: A river in Italy is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 1968 Belice earthquake The 1968 Belice earthquake sequence took place in Sicily between 14 and 15 January. The largest shock measured 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale , with five others of magnitude 5+. The maximum perceived intensity was X ( Extreme ) on the Mercalli intensity scale . The earthquake sequence, centred between
32-491: The 14 January, followed by a M 5.1 event at 13:15 on the same day and a M 5.2 event at 01:33 on 15 January, the mainshock at 02:01, and two M 5.2 events at 16:42 on 16 January and at 09:56 on 25 January. The greatest perceived intensity on the Mercalli scale was X ( Extreme ) at Gibellina, Montevago and Salaparuta. Intensities at Poggioreale, Santa Margherita di Belice, Santa Ninfa, Partanna and Salemi reached IX ( Violent ) on
40-878: The inhabitants spent the following night sleeping outside, during which the most damaging of the shocks occurred, which probably greatly reduced the number of casualties. The official death toll was 231 with a further 623 injured. Other estimates give more than 400 dead with over 1,000 injured. An estimated 100,000 people were made homeless by the earthquakes. The worst affected buildings were of unreinforced masonry construction that used irregular stones with weak mortar and had roofs consisting of heavy tiles resting on wooden beams. Such buildings collapsed completely in many cases. Houses with load-bearing walls made of regular stone or concrete blocks and better quality mortar performed better, although some were badly damaged. The most modern buildings that used reinforced concrete frames generally suffered little damage. The immediate relief effort
48-630: The scale. The focal mechanisms of the mainshock and the two magnitude 5+ aftershocks are consistent with thrusting on faults trending west–east, although an alternative solution has been proposed for the mainshock of right lateral transpression on a NNW-SSE trending fault. The main area of damage was centred on the valley of the Belice, with worst affected towns being Santa Ninfa , Partanna , Montevago , Santa Margherita di Belice , Gibellina , Salaparuta , Poggioreale . Vita , Salemi , and Camporeale also suffered significant damage. The earthquakes on 14 January did little damage, but many of
56-582: The towns of Gibellina , Salaparuta and Poggioreale , killed at least 231 people, possibly more than 400, with between 632 and about 1,000 injured and left 100,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto del Belice . Sicily lies on the complex convergent plate boundary between the African plate and the Eurasian plate . The geology of the western part of the island is dominated by the Gela Nappe,
64-546: Was hampered by a lack of disaster relief planning at both local and provincial levels, excessive bureaucracy, a lack of supplies close to the affected areas and a tendency of refugees to treat outsiders with suspicion. One year after the earthquakes, many hundreds of people were still living in tents and many of the prefabricated housing units had yet to appear, despite having been paid for; no work had begun on providing permanent housing. Two-thirds of refugee families had still not received their government grant. Nine years after
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