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In the guest blog, geologist Thomas Hofmann looks at "Rombo", the novel by Esther Kinsky, from the scientific side.
At the beginning of scientific research there is observation and description. Esther Kinsky, writer and translator, is a meticulously observing natural scientist in her approach: "Gentle hills. Fields, peat bogs in remote depressions, scattered limestone karst outcrops with oak groves, chestnut trees, sharp, thin-stemmed grass on the ridges, which appear to be more mountainous than they are, but still offer a view: over the hilly country, [...]." In 2020 she received the German Prize for Nature Writing together with Ulrike Draesner. In "Rombo" she writes about the 1976 earthquake in Friuli, Italy.
The novel is divided into seven sections. Each consists of individual literary mosaic pieces. They are usually labeled with the recurring names of seven people who witnessed and survived the earthquake. Kinsky also chooses plant names or other concise names with local references, such as Sisma (Italian: earthquake) or Miniera (Italian: mine). The latter refers to oil shale deposits on Monte Plauris (1,958 meters). Here, as in Seefeld in North Tyrol, dark layers were mined in the main dolomite of the Triassic; ichthyol was obtained.
Kinsky studied literature intensively. The heading "The Formation of Mountains. Faith I" takes us back to the early days of geology. Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), German Jesuit and polymath, depicts the interior of the earth in his monumental "Mundus subterraneus" (1678). Kinsky took up this baroque image: "The earth is filled with a central fire that melts matter and expels it through the thinner parts of the earth's crust."
The seven sections are preceded by historical quotations from great scholars. Friedrich Hoffmann (1797-1836), German geologist, observed volcanic phenomena in Italy and correlated earthquake strength with underground rumblings. "...the same thing is said about Calabria, where this dreaded apparition is called il rombo."
Three passages are taken from the multi-volume "Antlitz der Erde" by Eduard Suess (1831-1914), founder of the Geological Institute (1862) at the University of Vienna. Suess saw that seismic movements, which discharge with a single blow, were among the exceptions. Much more common are "a whole series of earth tremors, with or without the accompaniment of subterranean noise, of varying intensity." Keyword aftershocks.
If you follow local tradition when looking for the origin of the underground rumbling, the population mentions Monte San Simeone (1,215 meters) near Venzone. "The origin of the Rombo is attributed to the mountain in the rambling, swaying, ever-shaking stories of the earthquake." A mythical creature lives and growls here; the "Orcolat, the monster earthquake of 1976."
In 1976 Anselmo, Toni and Silvia were children. Olga, Gigi Lina and Mara a little older; Teenagers or young adults. They are all omnipresent, accompanying you through the book with their memories. Anselmo, the little man with white hair, is now a community worker. "After the earthquake, everything was in a huge mess. We had a car and the children were sleeping in it. ... I lay in the car and imagined that I was really dead." Olga soon realized the drastic consequences: "I think when I saw the porch I realized that nothing would ever be the same again. I felt it."
Gigi struggles with memory: "Who would you be if you forgot everything? ... You have no power over the type of memory." Toni's world of thoughts is reminiscent of a film: "There are all these images in my head, but they pass by too quickly to tell them. Or describe them." Mara knows how important it is to forget: "Our heads would explode without forgetting. And our hearts too." Is it Lina coming to terms with the past or sentimentality? "I like to talk about the past. About my memories." Silvia talks about the September earthquakes. "The second big earthquake came at midday. ... I don't remember what I was doing, I think I was out in the yard. ... Thank God it's daytime, I thought, I still remember that to this day." "But then it came again. It was in September. It started lightly, at dawn... Two or three days went by. Then, at midday, there was another deep rumble." Gigi remembers.
This midday rumbling was followed by another earthquake, the most since May, only the seismologists know. On June 18th, the director of the ZAMG (Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics), Heinz Reuter, took stock in Vienna. He cited 966 deaths and “several hundred aftershocks.” Many were also felt in Austria, some caused damage. Around 1,600 reports, perceptions of the population, were sent to the ZAMG. Reuter summed up with satisfaction: "The management of the central office would like to thank everyone who supported the work of the earthquake service and asks for any further cooperation."
Nobody had expected the September quakes, not even Riccardo Assereto, a geology professor in Milan, and his son Andrea. And neither does Giulio Pisa, geology professor from Bologna. The three set out on September 15th to study rock series in the region. On Monte Bivera (2,474 meters), at midday, the triple fatal rockfall happened. Forty years and two days later there was a memorial event and excursion. On September 17th and 18th, 2016, Sauris in Friuli-Venezia Giulia went off-road again under the motto "Per queste aspre montagne - Omaggio a Giulio Pisa e Riccardo Assereto", in German "For these rugged mountains", as geologists are wont to say. This time there was no underground rumbling.
The earthquakes in the Friuli area are among the earthquakes that have been scientifically well researched. As soon as the first tremors had subsided, geophysicists and seismologists began taking measurements, both Italians and Austrians, to collect facts. But first, let’s talk about the quake chronology. On May 6, 1976 at 8:59 p.m. there was a catastrophic earthquake in the Gemona area. A minute later, the fatal main tremor followed, destroying almost everything. In the epicenter with intensities of nine to ten according to the twelve-point MSK scale, named after Sergei Medvedev, Wilhelm Sponheuer and Vít Karnik. The scale is based on real destruction as an indicator, without taking seismographs into account. The value 9 stands for: collapsing walls and roofs as well as landslides. Of course, the design of the buildings is an important criterion. The reality in the Friuli area was a step higher in many places: "Collapse of many buildings; cracks in the ground".
At the time, neither Anselmo, Olga, Gigi, Toni, Mara, Lina or Silvia cared about the values 9 or 10. Destroyed was destroyed. Although the two extremely strong earthquakes in mid-September had intensities with measurable magnitudes of 5.9 and 6.1, the second destruction was relatively minor. The May earthquakes had already destroyed almost everything. What was more important was that the Alpini (= Italian mountain troops) came. They “brought blankets and food and sniffer dogs in case there were still buried people,” the book says.
Forty years after the earthquake, and the houses have long since been rebuilt, the geophysicists and seismologists at ZAMG explain the "most consequential natural disaster in Italy in the second half of the 20th century" in two sentences: "The tectonic cause of the earthquake can be traced back to a shift of the Adriatic microplate towards the European continental plate at a rate of up to two millimeters per year. The European crustal material together with the overlying tectonic blankets is due to the Adriatic Plate overthrust."
Geologically, i.e. viewed both temporally and spatially on a large scale, this is a completely normal process. The fact that endogenous forces shift continental plates has shaped our Earth for millions of years. Just as exogenous forces, wind and weather, continually affect the planet and literally wear it down. When forces are discharged in one fell swoop, buildings collapse like houses of cards, people die, masses of rock thundering into the valley reshape the landscape, it is difficult - viewed in human dimensions - to speak of normal processes. (Thomas Hofmann, March 18, 2022)