Evidence of Late Roman collapse at Catania (Sicily, southern Italy): an earthquake in the 4th century AD?

Simultaneous collapse of ancient historical buildings followed by sudden reconstruction, deduced fromarchaeological reports, provides indirect evidence for an earthquake in ancient Catania (Sicily, southernItaly). This event in the middle of the 4th century AD is consistent with the 365 AD seismic sequenceknown from historical sources, which report, wide destruction in Sicily and in the Mediterranean area.This period was characterized by political, economic, and social instability in the Roman empire. In thishistorical context, the earthquake effects may have been obscured or overlooked to some extent andconsequently the documentary information on ancient earthquakes, when available, is sparse andlacking objectivity. This study covers three historical buildings in Catania and provides precise dating of earthquake destruction.