Debbie Smyth

All images by Debbie Smyth - Sicily Photo Masterclass 2025 with Special Guest Tutors Emma Bowkett & Tim Clark

Gravity and Belice Valley 1968 earthquake

The January 1968 earthquake and aftershocks impacted around 10% of the surface area of Sicily, demolishing fourteen towns, killing several hundred inhabitants and leaving a hundred thousand homeless.

The earthquake's devastation is still openly visible and its ongoing impact on the Belice Valley communities is clear. Wandering the new replacement towns prompted thoughts of the inescapable gravity of a black hole, where even light cannot escape.

Much as I enjoy some of the modern architecture and relish meeting the people, it is the heavy shadows and a sense of enforced enclosure that are the first to greet me.