Digital historical resources and their role in improving knowledge on 18th-century earthquakes in Carnia and the Friulian Prealps (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy)

The Italian Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (CPTI15 v 4.0, Catalogo Parametrico dei Terremoti Italiani) includes more than 200 earthquakes whose parameters are derived from preliminary AMGNDT95 studies, most of which are based on very few bibliographic references, or often only on a single one. The updating of AMGNDT95 studies has been underway for some years now. This paper deals with a group of MW ≥ 5 earthquakes that affected Carnia and the Friulian Prealps in the 18th century (1700, 1776, 1788, 1789, and 1794) and whose updating was funded by the Italian 2020 NASA4SHA PRIN project (Research Projects of National Interest). The AMGNDT95 studies, dealing with these earthquakes, were of better quality than average, having been based not only on an extensive analysis of pre-1900 earthquake compilations, but also on original historical research carried out in Carnia parish archives. However, the new study described in this paper has significantly increased knowledge on their effects (in terms of number of macroseismic observations available for all earthquakes, but most particularly for those of 1700 and 1776) thanks to the current availability of digital historical resources (Italian and European digital newspaper collections, regional heritage digital platforms) that were unimaginable in the 1990s.