The
1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern
Italy near
Sicily,
Calabria and
Malta on January 11 at around 9 pm local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging
foreshock on January 9. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 on the
moment magnitude scale, the most powerful in Italian history, and a maximum intensity of XI (
Extreme) on the
Mercalli intensity scale, destroying at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of and causing the death of about 60,000 people. The earthquake was followed by tsunamis that devastated the coastal villages on the
Ionian Sea and in the
Straits of Messina. Almost two thirds of the entire population of
Catania were killed. The
epicentre of the disaster was probably close to the coast, possibly offshore, although the exact position remains unknown. The extent and degree of destruction caused by the earthquake resulted in extensive rebuilding of the towns and cities of southeastern Sicily, particularly the
Val di Noto, in a homogeneous late
Baroque style, described as "the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe".