The 1990 Carlentini earthquake (Italian: Terremoto di Carlentini del 1990) occurred off the Sicilian coast, 20 km east northeast from the town of Augusta, Sicily on 13 December at 01:24 local time.

The moderately-sized earthquake measuring 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw )[1] resulted in the deaths of 19 people and caused at least 200 injuries.

Lasting 45 seconds,[3] the shock was assigned a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VII–VIII (Very strong–Severe).

Following the largest aftershock, there was a dramatic increase in seismic activity, which continued for 19 days.

[9] Railway services were interrupted on the Catania-Caltagirone-Gela and Messina–Syracuse lines due to damaged communication.

[4] The entire district with a population of 1,000 was evacuated as authorities deemed homes unsafe to occupy.

During the actual rescue and recovery efforts however, life-saving equipment did not perform as expected.