Earthquakes in Donato
Seismic activity in the surroundings
30 km radiusINGV catalogue epicentres of the last ~12 years, within the given radius from the town centre.
How seismic is this area?
Medium-low seismicity: strong quakes are rare, but not impossible.
Official Civil Protection classification (upd. 2025), used for building codes.
Hazard describes the long-term expected shaking: it is not a forecast. Technical value: ag = 0.044 g (10% probability of exceedance in 50 years, rigid soil).
Why the ground rarely shakes here
Donato sits in one of the most stable areas of Italy: far from the boundary between the Eurasian and African plates, on ancient, rigid crust that hardly accumulates tectonic stress any more.
That is why earthquakes here are rare and almost always weak: a small geological privilege.
The “area” is Donato plus nearby towns.
The seismic history of Donato
The earthquakes that were actually felt in Donato over the centuries, with the intensity observed on site (Mercalli MCS scale).
- 2005NF8 September 2005
Imperceptible: only instruments record it.
Massif du Mont-Blanc earthquake (M4.4), epicentre 96 km away
- 2005NF5 July 2005
Imperceptible: only instruments record it.
Canavese earthquake (M3.5), epicentre 31 km away
- 1952NF22 August 1952
Imperceptible: only instruments record it.
Lomellina earthquake (M4.1), epicentre 89 km away
Source: Italian Macroseismic Database DBMI15 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).
The great earthquakes in this area's history
Almost a thousand years of catalogues: the strongest documented events within ~50 km.
Source: Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes CPTI15 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).
The closest seismic structure
The town lies about 41 km from Western Monferrato, one of the seismic structures mapped by INGV geologists.
Faults are mapped to build better and understand the territory: knowing them says nothing about when an earthquake will occur, which remains unpredictable. Source: DISS 3.3 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).
Area over time
Earthquake map
9 eventsEarthquakes in the area
Nearby towns
How does it compare with the surroundings?
Donato is among the quietest towns of its province: very few epicentres are recorded here.
Each quake is attributed to the town closest to its epicentre: the numbers describe the area, not the municipal territory alone.
Context
Province of Biella0 events · 30gPiedmont region34 events · 30gFrequently asked questions
Were there earthquakes today in Donato?
No, no quakes were recorded today in the Donato area: the latest nearby dates back to 10 months ago.
Is Donato a seismic area?
Donato is classified in seismic zone 3 by the Civil Protection. Medium-low seismicity: strong quakes are rare, but not impossible.
What was the strongest earthquake near Donato?
In the last ~12 years of INGV data, the strongest within 30 km of Donato was magnitude 1.9, in 2025.
When was the last quake near Donato?
The last quake recorded within 30 km of Donato was 7 months ago.
Tip. Click a nearby town to explore its seismicity.
Data: INGV — National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CC-BY 4.0)