Rigopiano avalanche
| Date | 18 January 2017 |
|---|---|
| Time | 16:48 local time |
| Location | Rigopiano, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Coordinates | 42°25′52″N 13°46′58″E / 42.43111°N 13.78278°E |
| Cause | Earthquakes and/or heavy snowfall |
| Participants | 40 (28 guests, 12 employees) |
| Deaths | 29 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 11 |
| Survivors | 11 |
On the afternoon of 18 January 2017, a major avalanche occurred on Gran Sasso d'Italia massif, one of the mountains above Rigopiano, impacting and destroying the four-star Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, Abruzzo. The impact killed twenty-nine people and injured eleven others, making the avalanche the deadliest in Italy since the White Friday avalanches in 1916, and the deadliest avalanche in Europe since the Galtür avalanche in 1999.
Two causal factors for the avalanche of 2017 include a series of earthquakes that struck the region earlier in the day and the record snowfall which occurred in the region for days prior to the avalanche.