Vajont Dam disaster occurred 62 years ago today.
The Vajont Dam disaster claimed the lives of almost 2,000 people, including 487 children, in the Piave valley of northern Italy on the night of 9 October 1963.
The disaster occurred when a vast landslide collided into the artificial reservoir formed by the 260-metre high dam over the Vajont river which flows through the Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions.
The landslide, comprising around 260 million cubic metres of rocks from Monte Toc, created a massive inland tsunami that reached up to 200 metres above the dam.
La sera del #9ottobre 1963 dal versante nord del monte Toc si staccano 260 milioni di metri cubi di roccia che, cadendo nel bacino della diga del Vajont, causano un’ondata che distrugge i paesi sottostanti. In video un breve racconto attraverso immagini di repertorio RAI. pic.twitter.com/0cPNsd6iXq
— raicultura (@RaiCultura) October 9, 2023
Electricity in the surrounding area went off suddenly at 22.39, moments before the giant tidal wave – travelling at 80 km p/h – ripped through the narrow valley below.
The wall of water engulfed the nearby town of Longarone, drowning around 80 per cent of its inhabitants, including more than 300 entire families.
It also caused widespread deaths and destruction in the neighbouring villages of Faè, Pirago, Rivalta, and Villanova, with many of the bodies never found.
The Vajont Dam disaster occurred on the night of 9 October 1963.
The dam, which remained largely intact after the disaster, was designed by Italian engineer Carlo Semenza in the 1920s, however construction by the Società Adriatica di Elettricità (SADE) did not begin until the late 1950s.
The lake created by the dam was intended to generate hydroelectric power to meet growing demand from the rapidly-industrialising north.
However authorities had dismissed numerous warnings that Monte Toc, to the southern side of the basin, was geologically unstable.
The Vajont dam disaster devastated the Piave valley.
The 262-metre high dam, hailed as the tallest of its kind in the world, was inaugurated in 1960, and two years later it was nationalised by the Italian ministry of public works.
The dam still stands to this day however the reservoir has never been refilled.
Nel giorno dell’anniversario della tragedia del Vajont – avvenuta il 9 ottobre di 62 anni fa – ricordiamo le quasi duemila vite spezzate da un disastro che si poteva evitare e che non doveva accadere.
La loro memoria, il ricordo di questa drammatica ferita della nostra storia,…
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) October 9, 2025
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday said that what happened in Vajont on 9 October 1963 was a “disaster that could have been avoided and should never have happened”.
Paying tribute to the victims of Vajont, Meloni wrote on X: “Their memory, the recollection of this dramatic wound in our history, reminds us how important responsibility, care for the land, and respect for human life are”.
In a post on social media, Veneto president Luca Zaia said the tragedy has left “a deep scar in the collective memory”, adding: “Remembering Vajont means not forgetting the lives lost, but also recognising the importance of listening to and respecting nature, which speaks to us when humans attempt to dominate it.”
