500-year-old Hebrew note reveals 'lost' earthquake swarm in Italy

A handwritten note was found in a Jewish prayer book copied in 1446. It describes the devastation wrought by a series of earthquakes that struck the town of Camerino that year.

While searching the Vatican's historical records, a geologist made a surprise discovery: a note in a Jewish prayer book describing a swarm of previously unknown earthquakes in 15th century Italy. Seismologists say the discovery could help predict earthquakes today.

Paolo Galli, an earthquake expert who works for Italy's Department of Civil Protection, told Live Science that the prayer book, written in a medieval form of Hebrew, had been copied in the Apennine town of Camerino in 1446.