67 KNOWN Richter
6.0s or greater in
the last 500 years.
Our simulations indicate that, depending on the earthquake's location, ports serving Genoa
and Milan in northwestern Italy might have comparatively lighter damage. ALL western
ports from Civitavecchia (near Rome) past Naples to Palermo on Sicily would be heavily
damaged. In many scenarios waves slam into portions of Tunisia, Libya and Algeria. It is
very doubtful that Italian ports on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas could take up the slack. We
note that a more easterly seismic event that damaged Italy's eastern ports would create less
of an economic and logistical strain for Italy. A major seismic event in the northern Ionian
Sea or anywhere in the Adriatic Sea would, however, be very challenging for Bosnia,
Croatia, Albania, Greece and their neighbors in the Balkans. An internationally funded and
managed network of submarine methane bubble sensors sounds like a plan to us.