The town of Camerino in Italy’s Apennine Mountains was famous for being the site of a devastating series of earthquakes in 1456. However, nothing was known about what happened 10 years ago. Now scientists have learned more about these events from a Hebrew note.

A geologist made an unexpected discovery while examining the historical records of the Vatican. He found a note in a Jewish prayer book describing a previously unknown series of earthquakes in 15th-century Italy. Seismologists say this discovery will help predict today’s earthquakes.

The prayer book, written in medieval Hebrew, was copied in the Apennine city of Camerino in 1446. On the last page there was a handwritten note from the same year. It describes a series of earthquakes that hit the region over several months, causing many houses in Camerino and nearby settlements to collapse.

Paolo Galli searched historical records from 1456 in the Vatican Library. The southern region was later hit by a series of earthquakes. Instead, he found a note in Hebrew describing an earlier earthquake wave.

“While searching for news about one of the most devastating series of earthquakes that occurred in Italy in 1456… I found an unknown manuscript about an unknown earthquake that occurred further north, 10 years ago, in 1446,” Galli said. said.

His research on this note was published in the journal. Seismological Research Letters.

Halli turned to experts to translate the note. He said the description of the 1446 earthquake was “extremely brief but vivid and moving”. “The historian informs us in just eight lines that from March to August numerous earthquakes destroyed many houses in Camerino and other surrounding settlements. “Hundreds of survivors moved from the country to Camerino to help the people, bringing them wine, food and all the supplies they had salvaged from the ruins,” the author of the study said. said. Source