When the inhabitants of the villages of Tora and Piccilli went to bed one evening in 1816, their world was just as they had always known it—if you ignored the strange torrential rains that had been plaguing the region. The next morning, however, life was forever changed. During the night, the rain-soaked soil on the hillside had broken loose and tumbled down into their reservoir, where masses of volcanic rock displaced a huge wave that thundered down the valley and swept away their mill at the mouth of the ravine. What could have…
