A landslide hit the town of Silvi Paese, in the province of Teramo (Abruzzo), causing the collapse of some buildings and trees, with damage estimated at around 4 million euros. As also confirmed by the CNR’s Polaris project, the landslide front had already been monitored for some time and was activated on January 25, 2026, with a first evacuation of some buildings. The movement then continued slowly, until it accelerated in the early hours of Saturday 28 March, with the landslide in Contrada Santa Lucia which caused the destruction of four homes, one of which completely collapsed.
The Civil Protection technicians – whose timely intervention made it possible to secure 11 families, thus avoiding victims – will now have to monitor any new movements along the provincial road 29/b, affected by deep collapses and fractures as it is located in the landslide feeding area.
For precautionary reasons, schools were closed until April 1st: in the meantime, the town is at risk of isolation, after another landslide in Contrada Valle Scura interrupted the main connections.
Maurizio Scelli, the director of the Regional Civil Protection Agency of Abruzzo, in a post on social channels defined the situation as “very difficult, but under control” for which “all forces have been deployed: the area is currently being secured and surveys will begin immediately to understand the causes of this worsening of the situation”.
What happened with the landslide in Silvi Paese in Abruzzo, in the province of Teramo
As mentioned, the landslide had already been activated last January 25th (almost in conjunction with the Niscemi landslide, with which however there is no type of connection), to the point that on Friday March 27th the Abruzzo Region had already communicated the allocation of 244,000 euros for urgent interventions. On the morning of Saturday 28 March, however, the landslide accelerated, causing the collapse of various buildings and trees.
In short, the landslide affected a front that had been under control and constantly monitored for some time: the acceleration recorded, however, led to a worsening of the situation, so much so that the collapsed house was not among those considered up to that point to be among the most exposed to risk.
In these hours, the landslide front has further widened and is now at the center of monitoring by the Civil Protection and specialized technicians, who have also involved the Gabriele D’Annunzio University to carry out geological and hydrogeological investigations: the next step will be to define the evolutionary framework of the phenomenon and identify the type of interventions to be carried out.
The area has been delimited as a “red zone”, while other buildings are carefully monitored: in total, 11 families have been evacuated. The evacuated inhabitants were assisted by the Municipality, which provided them with alternative housing facilities: the final objective is to allow their relocation.
Territory analysis and landslide risk: geological relationships
From a geological point of view, the geomorphological vulnerability of the hilly relief on which Silvi Paese stands had already been known for some time, as confirmed by the various geological reports carried out over the years.
Silvi Paese is located at an altitude of approximately 230 metres, just 1 km as the crow flies from the coast: it is part of a system of hilly reliefs which includes Colle Pigno (250 m), Colle Finestre (283 m), Colle Terremoto (262 m) and Pianacce (230 m). It is therefore a town, located in a top position on a very steep hill and close to the sea.
More specifically, from a geomorphological point of view, the territory is characterized by sub-flat ridges stretched in a west-east direction, separated by strongly incised valleys, with a vertical development that reaches 286m from sea level to Colle La Montagnola. Silvi Paese stands right on one of these summit ridges.
The point is that, as reported in the 2019 geological report, in the hilly areas there are landslide deposits belonging to rotational sliding landslide bodies. Precisely these landslide areas – with an active, quiescent or inactive state of activity – are among the areas susceptible to slope instability under seismic stress.
