Nasty earthquake in central Italy

[Rosscow]

Wobbegong said:

Rosscow said:

Minimum 60 dead now, likely to get much higher.

Terrible

I was 'hopeful' when initial reports suggested only 4 had died

Now 73 and counting. SOme of the pictures of the towns/villages are awful - they've been flattened.

[matsoc]

Unfortunately there are a lot of sismic areas in Italy, more than 300 died in 2009 quake and during the 80s 3000 died in Irpinia and 1000 in Friuli.
In 1908 100-120,000 died in Southern Italy.

[Rosscow]

120 and rising..... still hundreds missing.

Poor people asleep in bed had no chance.

[andy_s]

A lot of Rome families originally came from the smaller northern/mountainous villages, during summer school holidays it's common that the kids go up the mountains to stay with their grandparents in the cooler climate - if this had hit last week it would have been even more horrendous.

[battered]

So on that map level 1, in red, is worst, and level 4, grey, safest?

[RobDickinson]

JohnStitch said:

All these tremors now are weird, keep feeling everything slightly rocking - obviously nothing like last night but it's the strangest feeling

Thats one thing that surprised me about the Christchurch quakes. I'd always assumed one big quake and a few aftershocks. we are up around 20,000. For the first 3-4 hours after the feb 6.3 the ground literally didnt stop moving at all.


Poor Italy its a nasty thing to go through.

[LambShank]

Any idea how far away Amandola is from the area affected?

[Iva Barchetta]

LambShank said:

Any idea how far away Amandola is from the area affected?

According to maps about 65 Kms.

Epicentre reported as in Amatrice.

[LambShank]

Iva Barchetta said:

According to maps about 65 Kms.

Epicentre reported as in Amatrice.

Thanks.
Not far then, and likely affected in some way.

[RobDickinson]

LambShank said:

Thanks.
Not far then, and likely affected in some way.

65kms is a fair way away from a 6.2, its possible there will be some damage to buildings but shouldnt be anything life threatening.

[Rosscow]

Now 247 dead.

Amazing scenes as a 10 year old girl pulled out alive after being upside down for 17 hours!

[matsoc]

battered said:

So on that map level 1, in red, is worst, and level 4, grey, safest?

Yes, exactly.
Actually every year in that areas there are some earthquakes that can be clearly felt by the population but that luckily generate no victim or major damages. I remember 2 this year in February and May.

[battered]

That's a bit concerning. My folks have a holiday home in Calabria, near Cosenza, in the middle of a red bit of the map. In fact I'll be there with them in 3 weeks for a family party. They have felt a few minor rumbles while they've been out there, over the years.

Where are you?

[matsoc]

I am in Turin but I have relatives in Tuscany, near the border with Umbria, which is a quite active area, the rumbles were strong enough to make them sleep in the car back in 2009.

[matsoc]

What makes me angry, like many other things in Italy, is that since the beginning of the 90s there are precise rules to build houses in these areas with anti-sismic principles but again a renovated in 2012 and certified anti-sismic collapsed...evidently the certification was fraudulently acquired by the construction company.

[battered]

I take it that you haven't spent much time there, if this is surprising? The further south you go, the worse it gets.

[joema]

It is the most active area in western Europe so they do happen.

A lot of historic buildings that are always going to crumble. I wonder what modern building standard there are. Are they designed to withstand earthquakes? I'd like to think so.

[battered]

joema said:

I wonder what modern building standard there are. Are they designed to withstand earthquakes? I'd like to think so.

As matsoc says above, the building stds exist. They *should* be made to that standard. Are they? Well, this is Italy. "Si, si, va bene, va bene."

[JawKnee]

I'm about 35 miles from the epicentre. Absolutely bricked it when it happened. Took a few seconds to go from deep sleep to work out what was going on then had that sudden "oh st" feeling. Everything was shaking for what felt like a minute and the walls were making a creaking sound. Pulled my partner out of bed and ran to the balcony. In hindsight not the best idea but that's instinct for you eh? The aftershock an hour later was powerful though shorter in duration.

Need to drive through the worst affected areas over the weekend to visit family in Perugia if the roads allow. Should be interesting...

[LambShank]

Keep hearing about the after shocks being as strong as the original quake - what makes it an aftershock if it's as strong?
Surely that's another quake?