by Maximiliano Crocamo
Interviewees: Massimiliano Fedriga, Governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia; Gioacchino Giomi, former Head of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service, son of Alessandro Giomi
The Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia presented the book Three Hundred Earthquake Shocks: Diary of the Seismic Catastrophe That Struck Friuli in 1976 on 15 May 2026 at the regional headquarters press room in Trieste.
The volume was written by Alessandro Giomi, who served as Chief Inspector General of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service and Deputy Extraordinary Commissioner alongside government commissioner Giuseppe Zamberlettiduring the emergency response to the earthquake of 6 May 1976. Giomi passed away in April 2010.
The presentation was chaired by FVG’s governor, Massimiliano Fedriga. Also in attendance were Gioacchino Giomi, the author’s son and a retired former head of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service, and Luigi Giudice.
The event formed part of the fiftieth-anniversary commemorations of the 6 May 1976 earthquake.
According to Gioacchino Giomi, the book draws on notes his father recorded during the twelve months he spent directing rescue operations in Friuli, documenting both the technical and human dimensions of the response.
Alessandro Giomi and Zamberletti later co-founded the Civil Protection Department in 1982, modelling it on the Friuli response. That framework, known as the “Friuli Model,” remains the foundation of Italy’s national disaster management system.
Governor Fedriga described the occasion as a tribute to the firefighters and volunteers who played a fundamental role in the region’s recovery.
