The Central Italy earthquake sequence nominally began on 24 August 2016 with a M 6.1 event on a normal fault that produced devastating effects in the town of Amatrice and several nearby villages and hamlets. A major international response was undertaken to record the effects of this disaster, including surface faulting, ground motions, landslides, and damage patterns to structures. This work targeted the development of high‐value case histories useful to future research. Subsequent events in October 2016 exacerbated the damage in previously affected areas and caused damage to new areas in the north, particularly the relatively large town of Norcia. Additional reconnaissance after a M 6.5 event on 30 October 2016 documented and mapped several large landslide features and increased damage states for structures in villages and hamlets throughout the region. This paper provides an overview of the reconnaissance activities undertaken to document and map these and other effects, and highlights valuable lessons learned regarding faulting and ground motions, engineering effects, and emergency response to this disaster.

On 20 May 2012, a M5.9 earthquake hit the Emilia‐Romagna region in northern Italy. Although it was of moderate magnitude, the quake affected an area up to 17 km from the epicenter, with severe damage and the collapse of several warehouses. Widespread liquefaction phenomena, such as sand boils and ground failures, were observed. Presented herein are the outcomes of a geotechnical post‐earthquake reconnaissance survey conducted a week after the main shock in Sant'Agostino, a municipality near Ferrara, which was severely affected by the ground shaking. The presented findings add new liquefaction case records induced by a moderate earthquake in the Italian historical database. Non‐invasive, seismic geophysical tests were carried out at four sites in the area of Sant'Agostino during the post‐earthquake reconnaissance survey for near‐surface geotechnical characterization. Preliminary assessment of liquefaction susceptibility has been carried out using post‐earthquake field measurements at the four sites. Predictions based on standard, state of the practice empirical correlations are consistent with the observed liquefaction phenomena.