Date | 6 April 2009 |
---|---|
Origin time | 01:32:40.78 UTC[1] |
Magnitude | 6.3 Mw[2] |
Depth | 9.46 km (5.88 mi)[1] |
Epicenter | [1] |
Countries or regions | Abruzzo, Italy |
Total damage | $16 billion |
Casualties | 308 dead[3] 1,500+ injured[4] 65,000+ homeless[3] |
The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 3:32 local time (1:32 UTC) on 6 April 2009, and was rated 5.8 on the Richter scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale;[5] its epicentre was near L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, which together with surrounding villages suffered most damage. There have been several thousand foreshocks and aftershocks since December 2008, more than thirty of which had a Richter magnitude greater than 3.5.[5]
The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy; 308 people are known to have died,[3] making this the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.
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This earthquake was caused by movement on a NW-SE trending normal fault according to moment tensor solutions.[6] Although Italy lies in a tectonically complex region, the central part of the Apennines has been characterised by extensional tectonics since the Pliocene epoch (i.e. about the last 5 million years), with most of the active faults being normal in type and NW-SE trending.[7] The extension is due to the back-arc basin in the Tyrrhenian Sea opening faster than the African Plate is colliding with the Eurasian Plate.[6]
The earthquake occurred at 1:32 GMT (3:32 CEST local time) at the relatively shallow depth of 9.46 kilometres (5.88 mi) and with an epicentre at 42.3476° N, 13.3800 °E[1] or approximately 90 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of Rome, near to the city of L'Aquila.[8] The earthquake was reported to measure 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale.[6]
Italy frequently experiences earthquakes, but it is uncommon for them to be very deadly. The last major earthquake was the 5.9-magnitude 2002 Molise earthquake which killed 30 people, 26 of the victims children who perished in the collapse of an elementary school in San Giuliano di Puglia, and was the deadliest quake in 20 years.[8] Earthquakes mark the history of L'Aquila, a city built on the bed of an ancient lake, providing a soil structure that amplifies seismic waves. The city was struck by earthquakes in 1315, 1349, 1452, 1501, 1646, 1703, and 1706.[9] The earthquake of February 1703, which caused devastation across much of central Italy, largely destroyed the city and killed around 5,000 people.[10]
Nationality | Deaths | Injured |
---|---|---|
Italian | 286 | 1,173 |
Macedonian | 6[11] | |
Romanian | 5[12] | |
Czech | 2[13] | |
Palestinian | 2[14] | |
Ukrainian | 2[15] | |
Greek | 1[16] | 5 |
French | 1[17] | |
Israeli | 1[18] | |
Argentine | 1[19] | |
Peruvian | 1[20] | |
Total | 308[21] | 1.500 ca. |
The earthquake caused damage to between 3,000 and 11,000 buildings in the medieval city of L'Aquila.[22] Several buildings also collapsed. 308 people were killed by the earthquake,[3] including two Czechs,[13] five Romanian citizens,[12] two Palestinians,[14] one Greek citizen,[16] one French citizen,[17] one Ukrainian citizen[15] and one Israeli citizen, and approximately 1,500 people were injured. Twenty of the victims were children.[23] Around 65,000 people were made homeless.[3]
The main earthquake was preceded by two smaller earthquakes the previous day.[22] The earthquake was felt as far away as Rome (92 kilometres (57 mi) away), in other parts of Lazio, as well as Marche, Molise, Umbria and Campania. Schools remained closed in the Abruzzo region. Most of the inhabitants of L'Aquila abandoned their homes and the city itself; in the city centre of L'Aquila, and the nearby village of Paganica which was also badly damaged, many streets were impassable due to fallen masonry. The hospital at L'Aquila, where many of the victims were brought, suffered damage in the 4.8 aftershock which followed the main earthquake an hour later. Powerful aftershocks, some only slightly weaker than the main shock, were felt throughout the following 2 days.
Villages in the valley along Strada Statale 17 just outside l'Aquila suffered the greatest damage while medieval mountain hill towns lying high above the valley suffered little damage. Onna was reported to be mostly leveled with 38 deaths among the 350 residents.[24] The villages of Villa Sant'Angelo and San Pio delle Camere were badly damaged.[25] Fatalities were reported in Poggio Picenze, Tornimparte, Fossa, Totani, San Gregorio and San Pio delle Camere.[26]
Many of L'Aquila's medieval buildings were damaged. The apse of the Basilica of Saint Bernardino of Siena, L'Aquila's largest Renaissance church, was seriously damaged, and its campanile collapsed. Almost the whole dome of the 18th-century church of Anime Sante in Piazza Duomo fell down. The 13th-century Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio collapsed from the transept to the back of the church, and Porta Napoli, the oldest gate to the city, was destroyed. The third floor of Forte Spagnolo, the 16th-century castle housing the National Museum of Abruzzo, collapsed, as did the cupola of the 18th-century Baroque church of St Augustine, damaging L'Aquila's state archives. This church had been rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1703 earthquake.[27] The Cathedral of L'Aquila has lost part of its transept and maybe more with the effects of the aftershocks. Slight damage was also reported to the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, but other Roman monuments such as the Colosseum and Roman Forum were unharmed.[28]
While most of l'Aquila's medieval structures suffered damage, many of its modern buildings suffered the greatest damage, for instance, a dormitory at the university of l'Aquila collapsed. Even some buildings that were believed to be "earthquake-proof" were damaged. L'Aquila Hospital's new wing, which opened in 2000 and was thought capable of resisting almost any earthquake suffered extensive damage and had to be closed.
Around 40,000 people who were made homeless by the earthquake found accommodation in tented camps[3] and a further 10,000 were housed in hotels on the coast.[29] Others sought shelter with friends and relatives throughout Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a controversy when he said, in an interview to the German station n-tv, that the homeless victims should consider themselves to be on a "camping weekend" - "They have everything they need, they have medical care, hot food... Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary. But they should see it like a weekend of camping."[30] To clarify his thought, he also told the people in a homeless camp: "Head to the beach. It's Easter. Take a break. We're paying for it, you'll be well looked after."[31] The billionaire prime minister offered his own houses to some of the survivors.[32]
Poor building standards or construction materials seem to have further contributed to the large number of victims. According to firefighters and other rescuers, some concrete elements of the fallen buildings "seemed to have been made poorly, possibly with sand".[33] An official at Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Barberi, said that "in California, an earthquake like this one would not have killed a single person".[34] According to Italian media, L'Aquila's chief prosecutor has opened a probe into possible criminal blame for the collapses.[35]
Many people reported seeing peculiar sightings of light glows, flashes, lightning, flames and fireballs, all of which were considered candidates for earthquake light.[36][37] 241 luminous phenomena were collected including photos and videos. At least 99 of such phenomena occurred before the main shock and other strong events of the seismic sequence, whereas globular lights, luminous clouds and diffused light were more frequent before the quakes. Flashes were mostly observed during the main shock. Electrical discharges and flames were observed principally after the main shock. Many luminous events were observed before and after the main shock without the ground shaking and were very similar to those reported about two centuries ago. An earthquake alarm system has been proposed, based on a video sensing network to capture EQL and provide a warning if observations match threshold characteristics for EQL preceding a main shock.[38]
The epicentral region saw dozens of significant aftershocks following the main earthquake. The strongest, which hit on 7 April at 19:47 CEST local time, measured magnitude 5.3 ML and caused further damage.[39] According to the Italian National Geophysics Institute director Boschi, the aftershock epicentres have migrated south-east, thus lessening the risk of further major shocks near populated areas.
Aftershocks cause safety problems for rescue crews with cranes and backhoes who are searching for injured people among precarious loose bricks and broken timbers of structures in the historic center of L'Aquila, a medieval city. Even a small aftershock can trigger the collapse of seriously damaged walls or parapets.
Aftershocks also cause sustained psychological trauma to small children and elderly who have already been traumatized by the main earthquake of 6 April 2009. The Italian government is aware of this psychological trauma situation, and therefore has temporarily relocated thousands of citizens away from the epicentral area.
As a result of aftershocks, the dome of the Anime Sante Basilica in L'Aquila, already heavily damaged by the main shock, almost entirely collapsed. Further buildings collapsed in L'Aquila and in neighbouring municipalities. The aftershock was so strong as to be felt in Rome, where it caused an elderly man to die of cardiac arrest.[40]
Only shocks with local magnitude 4.0 or higher are listed. There have been dozens of small magnitude aftershocks, ML 1–3, but these generally do not cause further structural damage. Shocks with local magnitude 5.0 or higher are highlighted in blue, and the main shock is highlighted in darker blue.[41]
Date (YYYY-MM-DD) and time (UTC) |
Time (local) |
Lat. | Long. | Depth | ML |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009-03-30 13:38:39 | 15:38:39 | 42.321° N | 13.376° E | 9.8 km (6.1 mi) | 4.1 |
2009-04-06 01:32:39 | 03:32:39 | 42.334° N | 13.334° E | 8.8 km (5.5 mi) | 6.3 |
2009-04-06 01:36:29 | 03:36:29 | 42.355° N | 13.342° E | 9.7 km (6.0 mi) | 4.7 |
2009-04-06 01:40:51 | 03:40:51 | 42.418° N | 13.408° E | 11.0 km (6.8 mi) | 4.1 |
2009-04-06 01:41:33 | 03:41:33 | 42.387° N | 13.316° E | 9.1 km (5.7 mi) | 4.3 |
2009-04-06 01:42:50 | 03:42:50 | 42.300° N | 13.429° E | 10.5 km (6.5 mi) | 4.2 |
2009-04-06 02:37:04 | 04:37:04 | 42.366° N | 13.340° E | 10.1 km (6.3 mi) | 4.6 |
2009-04-06 16:38:09 | 18:38:09 | 42.362° N | 13.333° E | 10.2 km (6.3 mi) | 4.0 |
2009-04-06 23:15:37 | 01:15:37 | 42.451° N | 13.364° E | 8.6 km (5.3 mi) | 4.8 |
2009-04-07 09:26:28 | 11:26:28 | 42.342° N | 13.388° E | 10.2 km (6.3 mi) | 4.7 |
2009-04-07 17:47:37 | 19:47:37 | 42.275° N | 13.464° E | 15.1 km (9.4 mi) | 5.3 |
2009-04-07 21:34:29 | 23:34:29 | 42.380° N | 13.376° E | 7.4 km (4.6 mi) | 4.2 |
2009-04-08 22:56:50 | 00:56:50 | 42.507° N | 13.364° E | 10.2 km (6.3 mi) | 4.3 |
2009-04-09 00:52:59 | 02:52:59 | 42.484° N | 13.343° E | 15.4 km (9.6 mi) | 5.1 |
2009-04-09 03:14:52 | 05:14:52 | 42.338° N | 13.437° E | 18.0 km (11.2 mi) | 4.2 |
2009-04-09 04:32:44 | 06:32:44 | 42.445° N | 13.420° E | 8.1 km (5.0 mi) | 4.0 |
2009-04-09 19:38:16 | 21:38:16 | 42.501° N | 13.356° E | 17.2 km (10.7 mi) | 4.9 |
2009-04-13 21:14:24 | 23:14:24 | 42.504° N | 13.363° E | 7.5 km (4.7 mi) | 4.9 |
2009-04-14 20:17:27 | 22:17:27 | 42.530° N | 13.288° E | 10.4 km (6.5 mi) | 4.1 |
2009-04-23 15:14:08 | 17:14:08 | 42.247° N | 13.492° E | 9.9 km (6.2 mi) | 4.0 |
2009-04-23 21:49:00 | 23:49:00 | 42.233° N | 13.479° E | 9.3 km (5.8 mi) | 4.0 |
2009-06-22 20:58:40 | 22:58:40 | 42.446° N | 13.356° E | 14.2 km (8.8 mi) | 4.5 |
2009-07-03 11:03:07 | 13:03:07 | 42.409° N | 13.387° E | 8.8 km (5.5 mi) | 4.1 |
2009-07-12 08:38:51 | 10:38:51 | 42.338° N | 13.378° E | 10.8 km (6.7 mi) | 4.0 |
2009-09-24 16:14:57 | 18:14:57 | 42.453° N | 13.330° E | 9.7 km (6.0 mi) | 4.1 |
Many Italian companies have offered some sort of help. All Italian mobile companies (Telecom Italia Mobile,[42] Vodafone Italy,[43] WIND (Italy), H3G), and some Mobile virtual network operators,[44] sent free minutes and credit to all their pre-paid customers in Abruzzo, suspended billing to all post-paid customers and extended their coverage with additional mobile base stations to cover homeless camps. In addition, some companies sent free mobile phones, SIM Cards and chargers for those who lost their mobiles, and set up a national unique number to send donations to, by placing a call or sending an SMS. Poste Italiane sent to homeless camps some mobile units acting as Postal Office, to allow people to withdraw money from their accounts as well as their retirement.[45] Many companies, such as pay-tv SKY Italia, suspended billing to all customers in Abruzzo, and offered some decoders to homeless camps to allow them to follow the funerals and the news.[46] Ferrovie dello Stato offered railway sleeping carriages to host some homeless people, and offered free tickets to all people and students living in Abruzzo. AISCAT (Associazione Italiana Società Concessionarie Autostrade e Trafori) declared that all toll-roads in Abruzzo would be free of charge.[47] All tax billing for all Abruzzo residents has been suspended by the government, as well as mortgage payments.
Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi refused foreign aid for the emergency, saying that Italians were "proud people" and had sufficient resources to deal with the crisis.[24] However he singled out the United States, announcing that he would accept aid for reconstruction: "If the United States wants to give a tangible sign of its solidarity with Italy, it could take on the responsibility of rebuilding heritage sites and churches. We would be very happy to have this support." and suggested the USA help rebuild "a small district of a town or a suburb".[48] Aid was offered by[49] Austria, Brazil, Croatia, the European Union, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Israel, Portugal,[50] Iran,[51] Macedonia,[52] Mexico,[53] Russia, Serbia,[54] Slovenia,[55] Switzerland,[56] Tunisia, the Turkish Red Crescent,[57] Ukraine,[58] and the United States.[59] Aid was also offered by various organisations, companies, sport clubs and celebrities including ACF Fiorentina,[60] Carla Bruni,[61] Madonna,[62] S.S.C. Napoli,[63] Zastava[64] and Fiat.[65]
Italian laboratory technician Giampaolo Giuliani[66] predicted a major earthquake on Italian television a month before,[67][68][69] after measuring increased levels of radon emitted from the ground. He was accused of being alarmist[69] by the Director of the Civil Defence, Guido Bertolaso, and forced to remove his findings from the Internet (old data and descriptions are still on line).[70] He was also reported to police a week before the main quake for "causing fear" among the local population when he predicted an earthquake was imminent in Sulmona,[71] about 50 km (31 mi) from L'Aquila, on 30 March, after a 4° quake happened, (later Sulmona only suffered minor damages by the 6 April earthquake).[72] Enzo Boschi, the head of the Italian National Geophysics Institute declared: "Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it. As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes."[73] Predicting earthquakes based on radon emissions has been studied by scientists since the 1970s, but enthusiasm for it had faded due to inconsistent results.[74] In December 2009, Giuliani presented his research, without many important details, to the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco; the union subsequently invited him to take part in developing a worldwide seismic early warning system. On his return home, the Italian authorities lifted the gagging injunctions against his predictions.[75]
More recently, Italian geologists and officials have been indicted for manslaughter for (as abbreviated) not predicting the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.[76]
In the days following the tragedy, some well-known investigative journalists reported that the reconstruction works may have been infiltrated by criminal organisations. According to these reports, the most serious hazard is represented by mafia and camorra trying to infiltrate the contract procedures.
On 7 April, a few hours after the main earthquake, journalist Luca Spinelli stated:[77]
The transfers of money necessitated by such a big tragedy are huge: much the same as the cost of running a war. [...] Any company would be interested in a turnover and a potential income like this. Surely the "main Italian company" will be: a company with a ninety billion annual invoice, making up to 7% of Italian GDP (Gross Domestic Product): the Mafia. [...] Abruzzo and Marsica are known territories to the mafia. A region which "attracted the attention of some Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita associates too", according to Franco Forgione, President of the Parliamentary Antimafia Commission in 2007. A region which, according to the Antimafia District Public Prosecutor's Office of L'Aquila, hosts part of the hidden treasure of mafia boss Vito Ciancimino, reckoned to be around 600 million euros. A region which has seen many recent arrests for mafia infiltration. Infiltration in contracts, building consents, the health system. The very things that will be needed for the reconstruction. (Unofficial translation from Italian)
The week following the earthquake, on 14 April, the renowned journalist and writer Roberto Saviano, author of the bestseller Gomorrah, wrote:[78]
Data demonstrates that the Camorra invasion (in Abruzzo) during these years was enormous. In 2006 it emerged that the ambush against mafia boss Vitale was decided and settled in detail at Villa Rosa in Martinsicuro. On 10 September, Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez, the drug dealer placed amongst the ten most wanted by the FBI, had one of his bases in Abruzzo. Nicola di Villano, cashier in a criminal-interpreneurial clique led by the Zagaria family of Casapesenna, repeatedly managed to escape the capture and it was discovered that his shelter was located in the Abruzzo National Park, where he had the chance to move freely. Abruzzo has become a junction point for the waste traffic. [...] Behind it all, obviously, the Camorra clans.
In the following weeks, even the major Italian institutions talked about the danger of criminal infiltration, noting that these risks would have been avoided with adequate supervision and inspections. On 15 April, President of the Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini confirmed the need to "watch over the mafia infiltrations".[79]
On 17 April, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, stated: "Exploitations will be impossible, we will reconstruct within 6 months keeping out exploitations and mafia."[80]
On the morning of 10 April 2009, which was also Good Friday, a state funeral was held for 205 of the 291 victims of the earthquake. It was attended by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, and many other politicians and church dignitaries.[81] The funeral Mass was led by the Vatican's second highest official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The Vatican had earlier granted a special dispensation to hold a Mass on Good Friday, the only day on the Roman Catholic calendar on which Mass is not normally held.[82] Near the end, an Islamic rite was held for the Muslim victims. In addition Friday was declared a national day of mourning, with flags flying at half staff, shops lowering their shutters and flights stopping at the airport for one minute of silence.[83]
Pope Benedict XVI later visited the areas affected by the L'Aquila earthquake on 28 April 2009.[84]
In response to the earthquake, automaker Ferrari announced that an F430 painted silver and gold would be produced. It was auctioned, and all proceeds went to the relief fund. This was the last F430 produced. In addition, Italian Formula 1 racing driver Jarno Trulli arranged a fund raising campaign known as Abruzzo In Hearts for the earthquake victims, which Italian Icon's such as Valentino Rossi took part in. The MotoGP star gave all the money he made from writing a column in a Spanish magazine every month to the cause, and had a sticker on the side of his Yamaha M1 at races.
In 2011, six seismologists and a government official in L’Aquila responsible for evaluating the threat of natural disasters were charged with manslaughter, stemming from what the authorities say was a failure to warn the population before the deadly 2009 earthquake.[85][86][87][88][89][90] Giuseppe Romano Gargarella ordered the members of the Great Risks commission to go on trial in L'Aquila. The judge said the defendants gave inexact, incomplete, and contradictory information about smaller tremors in L'Aquila six months before the earthquake on April 6, 2009.[91]
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