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2009 L'Aquila earthquake: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 42°25′23″N 13°23′42″E / 42.423°N 13.395°E / 42.423; 13.395
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=== List of foreshocks and aftershocks ===
=== List of foreshocks and aftershocks ===
Only shocks with magnitude 4.0 or higher are listed. There have been dozens of small magnitude aftershocks, Mw 1-3, but these generally do not cause further structural damage. Shocks with magnitude 5.0 or higher are highlighted in light blue. The main shock with moment magnitude 6.3 M<sub>w</sub> is highlighted in dark blue. Earthquake magnitude symbols: M<sub>w</sub> = [[moment magnitude scale]]; mb = [[body wave magnitude]]; M<sub>L</sub> = local magnitude, also known at the [[Richter magnitude scale]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?page=current&sub=filter&start_date=2009-01-01&end_date=2009-12-31&min_lat=42&max_lat=43&min_long=13&max_long=14&min_depth=&max_depth=&min_mag=2.5&max_mag=|title=Search for earthquakes|accessdate=2009-04-09|publisher=European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre}}</ref>
Only shocks with magnitude 4.0 or higher are listed. There have been dozens of small magnitude aftershocks, Mw 1-3, but these generally do not cause further structural damage. Shocks with magnitude 5.0 or higher are highlighted in light blue. The main shock with moment magnitude 6.3 M<sub>w</sub> is highlighted in dark blue. Earthquake magnitude symbols: M<sub>w</sub> = [[moment magnitude scale]]; mb = [[body wave magnitude]]; M<sub>L</sub> = local magnitude, also known as the [[Richter magnitude scale]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?page=current&sub=filter&start_date=2009-01-01&end_date=2009-12-31&min_lat=42&max_lat=43&min_long=13&max_long=14&min_depth=&max_depth=&min_mag=2.5&max_mag=|title=Search for earthquakes|accessdate=2009-04-09|publisher=European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre}}</ref>


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Revision as of 11:45, 9 April 2009

42°25′23″N 13°23′42″E / 42.423°N 13.395°E / 42.423; 13.395

2009 L'Aquila earthquake
UTC time??
Magnitude6.3 Mw[1]
Depth10 km (6.2 mi)[1]
Epicenter42°25′23″N 13°23′42″E / 42.423°N 13.395°E / 42.423; 13.395[2]
Areas affectedAbruzzo, Italy
Casualties279+ dead[3]
10 missing[4]
1,000+ injured[5]
28,000 homeless[6]
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The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was an earthquake of 6.3 moment magnitude that occurred in the central Italian region of Abruzzo on 6 April 2009, following a series of about a hundred minor tremors since January 2009, including a 4.0-magnitude one on 30 March. The majority of the damage occurred in the medieval city of L'Aquila (capital city of the Abruzzo region) and the surrounding villages. As of April 9 at 13.00 CEST, at least 279 people are known to have died,[3] and 10 are still missing,[4] making this the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.

Cause

This earthquake was caused by movement on a NW-SE trending normal fault according to moment tensor solutions.[2] Although Italy lies in a tectonically complex region, the central part of the Appenines 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.[2]

Location of the epicentre

The earthquake occurred at 01:32 GMT (03:32 CEST local time) at the relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) and with an epicentre at 42.423°N, 13.395°E[2] or approximately 90 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of Rome, at the village of Paganica near to the city of L'Aquila.[8] The earthquake was reported to measure 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale.[2]

Historical context

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 more than 25 people and was the deadliest 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 appears to amplify the vibrations of earthquakes. 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]

Effects

Nationality Deaths Injured Missing
Italy Italians 262+ 1,174 10
Romania Romanians 5[11]
North Macedonia FYROM 5[12]
Czech Republic Czechs 2[13]
Greece Greeks 1[14] 5
France French 1[15]
Ukraine Ukrainian 1[16]
Israel Israeli 1[17]
Total 275+ 1,179 11

The earthquake caused damage to between 3,000 and 11,000 buildings in the medieval city of L'Aquila.[18] Several buildings also collapsed. At least 279 people have been killed by the earthquake, including two Czechs[13], four Romanian citizens[11], one Greek citizen[14], one French citizen[15], one Ukrainian citizen[16] and one Israeli citizen, and around 1,000 people were injured. Ten people remain missing[4] and around 28,000 people have been made homeless.[6] Many of the victims were children.[19]

The main earthquake was preceded by two smaller earthquakes the previous day.[18] 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 have 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 are 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 Bis just outside l'Aquila suffered the greatest damage while medieval mountain hill towns bordering the valley suffered little damage. Onna was reported to be mostly leveled with 38 deaths among the 350 residents.[20] The villages of Villa Sant'Angelo and Borgo di Castelnuovo were badly damaged.[21] Fatalities were reported in Poggio Picenze, Tornimparte, Fossa, and Totani.[22]

Nearly all medieval monuments in L'Aquila have been damaged. The campanile of the Basilica of Saint Bernardino of Siena, L'Aquila's largest Renaissance church, collapsed and its apse was seriously damaged. The 17th-century church of Anime Sante in Piazza Duomo lost its dome. The Cathedral of L'Aquila has lost part of its transept and maybe more with the effects of the aftershocks. 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 in the quake. There were also concerns for the National Museum of Abruzzo, which is housed in the 16th-century castle. The cupola of the 18th-century Baroque church of St Augustine has collapsed, flattening the prefecture that held L'Aquila's state archives.[23] 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.[24]

Homeless camps

Around 17,700 people made homeless by the earthquake have been found accommodation in tented camps and a further 10,000 are housed in hotels on the coast.[6] 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"[25]. 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."[26]

Intervention

There have been front-page editorials in the Italian press calling for the democratic and socialist parties not to block the government's reconstruction efforts in support of its move to change the building codes in the region.[27] However, radio reports on the morning of April 09 suggested that many of the city's newer buildings were damaged worse than the historic neighborhoods, casting doubt over the intervention.

Aftershocks

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.[28] According to Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia INGV director Boschi, the aftershock epicentres have migrated south-east, thus lessening the risk of other major shocks that are near to populated areas.

Aftershocks cause safety issues 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 April 6, 2009. The Italian government is aware of this psychological trauma situation, and therefore has temporarily relocated thousands of citizens away from the epicentral area.

Within two weeks, it is expected that both the rate and magnitude of aftershocks will decay. During April and May 2009, seismologists will study the full extent of the oval-shaped fault-rupture surface, as illuminated by the sequence of aftershocks, and then make a final determination of the "official" moment magnitude.

As a result of aftershocks, the dome of the Anime Sante Basilica in L'Aquila, already heavily damaged by the main shock, has almost entirely collapsed. Further buildings have collapsed in L'Aquila and in neighbouring boroughs. The aftershock was so strong to be felt in Rome, where it caused a man to die of heart failure (source RAI Televideo).

List of foreshocks and aftershocks

Only shocks with magnitude 4.0 or higher are listed. There have been dozens of small magnitude aftershocks, Mw 1-3, but these generally do not cause further structural damage. Shocks with magnitude 5.0 or higher are highlighted in light blue. The main shock with moment magnitude 6.3 Mw is highlighted in dark blue. Earthquake magnitude symbols: Mw = moment magnitude scale; mb = body wave magnitude; ML = local magnitude, also known as the Richter magnitude scale. [29]

Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
and time (UTC)		 Time
(local)		 Lat. Long. Depth Mag.
2009-03-30 13:38:39.3 15:38:39.3 42.33° N 13.35° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.4 (Mw)
2009-04-05 20:48:56.4 22:48:56.4 42.36° N 13.37° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.0 (ML)
2009-04-06 01:32:41.4 03:32:41.4 42.38° N 13.32° E 2 km (1 mi) 6.3 (Mw)
2009-04-06 02:27:48.2 04:27:48.2 42.37° N 13.23° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.3 (mb)
2009-04-06 02:37:05.3 04:37:05.3 42.41° N 13.32° E 2 km (1 mi) 5.1 (Mw)
2009-04-06 03:56:48.1 05:56:48.1 42.38° N 13.34° E 10 km (6 mi) 4.5 (mb)
2009-04-06 07:17:16.1 09:17:16.1 42.47° N 13.40° E 30 km (19 mi) 4.4 (mb)
2009-04-06 16:38:10.7 18:38:10.7 42.38° N 13.32° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.4 (Mw)
2009-04-06 23:15:37.7 01:15:37.7 42.48° N 13.41° E 2 km (1 mi) 5.1 (Mw)
2009-04-07 09:26:30.7 11:26:30.7 42.31° N 13.35° E 10 km (6 mi) 5.0 (Mw)
2009-04-07 17:47:38.3 19:47:38.3 42.30° N 13.40° E 13 km (8 mi) 5.6 (Mw)
2009-04-07 21:34:30.9 23:34:30.9 42.34° N 13.37° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.5 (mb)
2009-04-08 04:27:42.5 06:27:42.5 42.30° N 13.43° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.0 (ML)
2009-04-08 22:56:51.0 00:56:51.0 42.55° N 13.34° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.1 (Mw)
2009-04-09 00:53:00.6 02:53:00.6 42.53° N 13.39° E 2 km (1 mi) 5.4 (Mw)
2009-04-09 03:14:52.7 05:14:52.7 42.35° N 13.46° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.3 (mb)
2009-04-09 04:32:46.0 06:32:46.0 42.45° N 13.39° E 2 km (1 mi) 4.3 (mb)
2009-04-09 04:43:12.3 06:43:12.3 42.52° N 13.34° E 10 km (6 mi) 4.0 (ML)

International aid

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.[20] However he singled out the United States announcing that he would accept the 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 proposed for the United States to help rebuild "a small district of a town or a suburb".[30] The aid was offered by[31] Austria, Croatia, the European Union, France, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, Greece, Israel, Portugal[32], Iran[33], Republic of Macedonia[34], Russia, Serbia[35], Slovenia[36], Switzerland[37], Tunisia, the Turkish Red Crescent[38], Ukraine[39], and United States[40]. Aid was also offered by various organisations, companies, sport clubs and celebrities including ACF Fiorentina[41], Carla Bruni[42], Madonna[43], S.S.C. Napoli[44], Zastava[45], Fiat[46].

Prior warning controversy

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Italian laboratory technician Giampaolo Giuliani claimed the prediction of a major earthquake on Italian television a month before,[47][48][49] by measurement of radon emitted from the ground. He was accused of being alarmist[49] by Director of the Civil Defence Guido Bertolaso, and forced to remove his findings from the Internet. He was also reported to police a week previously for "causing fear" among the local population when he predicted an earthquake was imminent in Sulmona,[50] about 50 km (31 mi) from L'Aquila, on 30 March and nothing happened (and in fact the area of Sulmona only suffered very minor damages by the 6 April earthquake).[51] 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."[52]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Italy lives with quake threat". BBC NEWS. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Magnitude 6.3 - CENTRAL ITALY 2009 April 06 01:32:42 UTC". USGS. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  3. ^ a b "Quake: Napolitano visits L'Aquila". ANSA. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  4. ^ a b c "Italy death toll rises to 275". Associated Press. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  5. ^ "L'Aquila, terrore per le nuove scosse" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  6. ^ a b c "Death toll in Italy quake reaches 260". Associated Press. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  7. ^ "Effect of Time Dependence on Probabilistic Seismic-Hazard Maps and Deaggregation for the Central Apennines, Italy". Seismological Society of America. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  8. ^ a b "Background: Italy and earthquakes". The Guardian. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  9. ^ "L'Aquila, prov. of L'Aquila, Abruzzo". Abruzzo2000.com. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  10. ^ Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc (1792). Buffon's Natural History. Vol. 2. J.S. Barr.
  11. ^ a b "Cinci români, printre victimele cutremurului din Italia" (in Romanian). Realitatea TV. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  12. ^ "Terremoto/Castelnuovo: 5 Vittime, Fra Cui 2 Macedoni. Chiesa Distrutta" (in Italian). ASCA. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  13. ^ a b "Quake: Over 100 dead, 1,500 injured". ANSA. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  14. ^ a b "Trapped Greek student found dead in L' Aquila". ANA. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  15. ^ a b "Une française tuée" (in French). Agence France Presse. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  16. ^ a b "Eight-year-old Ukrainian girl killed in earthquake in Italy". UNIAN. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  17. ^ "Body of Israeli missing since Italy quake found". ynet. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  18. ^ a b "Powerful Italian quake kills many". BBC News. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  19. ^ RAI One news, retrieved 9 April 2009 at 08:00 CEST local time
  20. ^ a b "Death toll rises in Italy quake". BBC News. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  21. ^ "Italy quake kills at least 150, scores saved". AFP. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  22. ^ "Italy in desperate race to save the buried after the earthquake". The Times. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  23. ^ "Quake: 'Huge' artistic damage". ANSA. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  24. ^ "Les Thermes de Caracalla, à Rome, touchés par le séisme" (in French). La Presse. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  25. ^ "Berlusconi gaffe as he says quake homeless should enjoy 'a camping weekend's". The Times. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  26. ^ "Rescuers Scramble in Search for Quake Survivors". The New York Times. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  27. ^ Battista, Pierluigi (2009-04-08). "La Lezione Abruzzese". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Vol. 134, no. 83. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  28. ^ "Aftershock hits Italy quake zone". BBC News. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  29. ^ "Search for earthquakes". European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  30. ^ "Berlusconi may accept U.S. aid". UPI. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  31. ^ "World sends sympathy, offers aid to quake-hit Italy". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  32. ^ "Protecção Civil portuguesa pode disponibilizar ajuda a Itália em quatro horas" (in Portuguese). Público. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  33. ^ "Iran expresses sympathy over Italy quake". Tehran Times. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  34. ^ "Macedonia offers aid to Italy after earthquake". Makfax. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  35. ^ "Serbian leaders offer condolences to Italian earthquake victims". Xinhua. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  36. ^ "Slovenia Offers Help to Italy After Quake". STA. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  37. ^ "Switzerland offers help after quake in Italy". Xinhua. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  38. ^ "Turkey Red Crescent offers help to quake hit-Italy". AA. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  39. ^ "Украина готова направить в Италию отряд спасателей и мобильный госпиталь" (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  40. ^ "EARTHQUAKE: OBAMA TO BERLUSCONI, US READY TO HELP". AGI. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  41. ^ "Fiorentina latest club to donate funds to quake victims". AFP. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  42. ^ "French first lady offers to help quake hospital". AFP. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  43. ^ "Sisma, Madonna dona soldi alle vittime in Abruzzo" (in Italian). Reuters. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  44. ^ "Napoli to donate match funds to quake victims". AFP. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  45. ^ "Operai Fiat Zastava in Serbia offrono sangue per i terremotati" (in Italian). la Repubblica. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  46. ^ "TERREMOTO: FIAT, 2,5 MLN PER RICOSTRUZIONE ASILO COMUNALE A L'AQUILA" (in Italian). ASCA. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  47. ^ "Row over Italian quake 'forecast'". BBC News. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  48. ^ Mackey, Robert (2009-04-06). "Earthquake Warning Was Removed From Internet". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  49. ^ a b Why did quake cause so much damage? (Television production). BBC News. 2009-04-06. Event occurs at 1 minute 55 seconds. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  50. ^ "World news Feed Article". AP. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-07. Giuliani said Monday that he was placed under investigation by prosecutors for causing alarm after he sent warnings of a pending quake in the Sulmona area
  51. ^ "Italy: State of emergency after deadly central quake". Adnkronos International. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  52. ^ "Italian earthquake: expert's warnings were dismissed as scaremongering". Daily Telegraph. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to L'aquila 2009 earthquake.
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