THE THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF CONZA della Campania, a town in the southern Apennines of Italy, was interrupted by the earthquake of November 23, 1980. A magnitude 6.9 tremblor, it killed 2,914 people, including 184 in Conza alone.

If one travels to “Conza della Campania” today, they will be in a different place, a new town of modern villas, with large roundabouts and a regular plan. Many other towns were rebuilt after that disaster, right where they had once stood. But not Conza—it was moved because of what the damage of the earthquake revealed.