The earthquake occurred southeast of Norcia, a town of the province of Perugia, in the region of Umbria. The US Geological Survey (USGS) initially reported that the earthquake would have occurred at a depth of 10 km, with magnitude 6.4. The magnitude was later corrected by the USGS to 6.2.

The earthquake (main shock) was followed by more than 200 aftershocks. In Amatrice and Norcia aftershocks of magnitude 5.5 and 4.7 occurred. The first reports indicated severe damage in the village of Amatrice near the epicenter, and in Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto. The earthquake and the aftershocks were felt from Florence to Naples, especially in Rome.

The Italian civil guard confirmed 299 dead (of which 224 were in Amatrice) and about 368 injured. This earthquake was the worst since 2009, when an earthquake struck Aquila in the Abruzzo region, causing more than 300 deaths, and relocating about 65,000 people.

The fires on the island of Madeira began on August 8, 2016, primarily as forest fires and later evolving and threatening the urban area, especially in the city of Funchal. On August 9, the advance of the fires forced the government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira to activate the Regional Emergency Plan for Civil Protection that was operational until August 16. Criminal responsibility for part of the fires was confirmed, and the Judiciary Police made three arrests.

The adverse weather conditions in the region during the onset of the fires accelerated the spread of the flames and delayed the work of extinguishing them by the fire departments as well as by some popular ones. During the day the temperatures were around 35º and only during the night they lowered to 25º. In total, the fires in Madeira killed three people, two seriously injured and about one thousand displaced persons, causing hundreds of people to go to health facilities because of the inhalation of smoke.

The county of Funchal was the most affected, with 1,666 hectares of burned area. This represents about 22% of the whole municipality. The Funchal City Council estimated 61 million euros in buildings and infrastructures losses in the municipality. Three hundred buildings, between houses, commerce and services, from which 177 totally destroyed and 123 partially. Losses of 36 million euros were estimated for the private sector, only in the municipality of Funchal. The other part, 25 million euros, corresponds to damages in municipal infrastructures belonging to the public domain.