Most of you will have read or seen by now that there has been another strong earthquake in Northern Italy, just eight days after the 6.0 quake that terrorised the people of the Province of Modena and displaced thousands, many of whom are being accommodated in tents. Imagine their fear, then, when a 5.8 quake struck at 9 am today.
The epicentre this time was between Carpi, Medolla and Mirandola, still in the Province of Modena and the quake was felt in parts of Lombardy, Trentino, Tuscany and even Austria. At 12.56 there was a further, 5.3 quake.
As I write 16 people are reported dead, one person is missing, at least 350 have been injured and 8,000 people are estimated to have been made homeless. The brings the total number of people made homeless by the earthquakes of 20th May and today to a staggering 14,000. Premier Monti has promised that everything possible will be done to help them.
In such circumstances we must take comfort where we can and at 21.00, exactly twelve hours after this morning's quake, a 60-year-old woman was pulled out of the rubble injured but alive. The headboard of her bed had protected her as her home collapsed around her.
The University of Bologna, together with the city's schools, will be closed tomorrow whilst safety checks are carried out. In the city of Modena, where some public buildings have been slightly damaged, schools, cemeteries, museums, swimming pools and theatres will be closed. I have spent some time in Modena so was sorry to learn that some of the buildings in its lovely historic centre may also have been damaged.
Italians pull together magnificently at times like these and modern technology has also played its part: when mobile networks in the earthquake-hit area became overloaded this morning, messages asking people to remove their passwords from their wifi systems to enable the rescue services to find people and communicate with each other more efficiently quickly circulated on twitter. Also on twitter, the singer Laura Pausini urged people in the area whose houses were intact to open up their homes to less fortunate citizens. If I know Italians, they did not need to be told to do that.
Monday 4th June is to be a national day of mourning in Italy.
Monday 4th June is to be a national day of mourning in Italy.
8 comments:
Hello Pat, yet another very very sad day for Italy, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone.
Hope you are ok, love to you and Simi xx
I seem to have been noticing earthquakes so much more recently. In laws on one side were caught in the NZ one and an in law on the other side was caught in the Japanese one last year. I pray for those who are trapped and have had their lives turned upside down.
Hurrah for the headboard!
Sad, indeed.
Earthquakes and hurricanes and other natural disasters test our very way of life.
It takes decades to recover; and even after all those years, the scars can still be there.
Hubby and I and my then fourteen year old Brian suffered from a massive earthquake that destroyed our home in California in 1994. Decades later, after rebuilding and taking out lots of loans, we cannot forget that night and the subsequent devastation all around us. Everything comes to a stop around you, and only the kindness of your neighbors makes life bearable.
Hi, Anne. Yes, so sad again and terrifying. Love to you, too. x Hi, Jenny. I hope your in-laws are all right now. It must have been terrifying. I echo your prayers. Yes indeed, WW. Hi, Rosaria. I'm so sorry - I didn't know you'd been through that. Thank you for sharing.
The victims of the quakes have been in my prayers since I first heard about them. (I was once in a very small earthquake. I did not like it at all).
Sad times with all this dvastation. Over 800 aftershocks, just when will it stop we are all wondering now.
Hi, Nick. I'm sure your prayers are appreciated. It must have been very frightening to have been in a quake of any sort. Hi, LindyLouMac. Can you feel the tremors where you are? x
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