LONGARONE — 1963 · Major Tragedy
Vajont Dam Disaster
At 22:39 on the night of 9 October 1963, around 260 million cubic metres of rock and earth slid from Monte Toc into the reservoir behind the Vajont Dam in northern Italy. The resulting wave overtopped the dam by around 250 metres and rushed into the Piave valley, wiping out Longarone and surrounding villages within minutes. Officially 1,917 people died. The dam itself remained largely intact. It emerged that the operator SADE, and later ENEL, had ignored geological warnings that the mountain was unstable. At the trial, moved to L'Aquila, some engineers received lenient sentences. In 1997 Montedison was ordered to compensate the affected municipalities.
- Date
- 1963
- Place
- Veneto, Italy, Longarone, IT
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 46.2667, 12.3000 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 1960–1963Signs of sliding on Monte Toc and warnings were ignored.
- 9 October 1963, 22:39The landslide wave destroyed Longarone; 1,917 people died.
- 1968–1971At the trial in L'Aquila some engineers received lenient sentences.
- 1997Montedison was ordered to pay compensation to the municipalities.
- October 2023The 60th anniversary of the disaster was commemorated.
Sources
- La Repubblica — Vajont, 60 anni (2023) repubblica.it ↗
- Corriere della Sera — Vajont, 60 anni corriere.it ↗
- RaiNews — Vajont 1963-2023 rainews.it ↗
- Wikipedia — Vajont Dam en.wikipedia.org ↗
- La Repubblica
- Corriere della Sera
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.