Aliano is located atop "calanchi", which are deforested, sandy soiled, rocky hills. Over the town's history, many homes were lost to landslides resulting from deforestation. In 1980 an earthquake shook the region and destroyed or made uninhabitable many of the town's historic buildings. Recent funding, partly from the European Union, has made renovations possible, and parts of the town's historic centre are once again habitable.