Earthquakes in Sala Biellese
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 = 0.043 g (10% probability of exceedance in 50 years, rigid soil).
Why the ground rarely shakes here
Sala Biellese 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 Sala Biellese plus nearby towns.
The seismic history of Sala Biellese
The earthquakes that were actually felt in Sala Biellese 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 103 km away
- 2005NF5 July 2005
Imperceptible: only instruments record it.
Canavese earthquake (M3.5), epicentre 30 km away
- 2002NF13 November 2002
Imperceptible: only instruments record it.
Franciacorta earthquake (M4.2), epicentre 170 km away
- 2000IV-V21 August 2000
Rather strong: felt by almost everyone; hanging objects swing.
Monferrato earthquake (M4.9), epicentre 74 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 36 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
2 eventsEarthquakes in the area
Nearby towns
How does it compare with the surroundings?
Sala Biellese 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 Sala Biellese?
No, no quakes were recorded today in the Sala Biellese area: the latest nearby dates back to 16 months ago.
Is Sala Biellese a seismic area?
Sala Biellese 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 Sala Biellese?
In the last ~12 years of INGV data, the strongest within 30 km of Sala Biellese was magnitude 1.9, in 2025.
When was the last quake near Sala Biellese?
The last quake recorded within 30 km of Sala Biellese 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)