Earthquake Hits Central Italy
Monday April 6, 2009
Monday morning's devastating earthquake in central Italy's Abruzzo region was the deadliest since a 1980 quake in southern Italy. Buildings that have stood for hundreds of years in the medieval center of L'Aquila (about 170 miles from Rome) tumbled down and sadly more than 290 people are reported to have died, hundreds are injured, and an estimated 40,000 homeless. People in 26 towns near L'Aquila have been affected with more than 10,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. A funeral mass will be said for the victims on Friday. Although earthquakes are fairly common in central and southern Italy, they are rarely this severe.
Contributions to earthquake relief funds: National Italian American Foundation
More relief funds: See Italian Notebook or Ms Adventures in Italy.
Travel Alert: Please refrain from visiting the interior of the Abruzzo region
Abruzzo Hot Line Info: on Senior Travel
Damaged Sites: See Lost in Italy
Comments
Volcanoes in Alaska and Chile and earthquakes in Italy. Is the world coming apart? Hope not. My thoughts to the victims and survivors.
Actually central and southern Italy have been subject to earthquakes for centuries…it wasn’t too long ago that the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina were virtually wiped out (and then rebuilt).