Sad Start to Holy Week (Sad Update)
All of us join in prayer for the victims and survivors of the earthquake that devastated the Abruzzo region of Italy early this morning. I know from a friend in Rome that tremors were felt there, sixty miles to the West.
The Guardian has a helpful map showing the region, the epicenter, and the fault lines that traverse the Italian peninsular.
Italy being Italy, polemics have already begun. But a sober statement comes from the head of Italy’s National Geophysics Institute:
“Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it,” he said. “As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes.”
He said the real problem for Italy was a long-standing failure to take proper precautions despite a history of tragic quakes. “We have earthquakes, but then we forget and do nothing. It’s not in our culture to take precautions or build in an appropriate way in areas where there could be strong earthquakes,” he added.
Update:
A second quake hit L’Aquila a few hours ago. Here is the report from the Turin daily, La Stampa:
Ancora paura in Abruzzo. Una nuova forte scossa di terremoto di magnitudo 5.3 si è verificata nell’aquilano alle alle 19.42. La scossa è stata avvertita oltre che in tutto l’Abruzzo anche nel frusinate, nel Lazio e nelle Marche. Quest’ultimo terremoto ha provocato altre vittime, con certezza una nella frazione Santa Rufina di Roio. Nuovi crolli sono stati segnalati un pò dappertutto nei centri vicino all’Aquila dove è crollata, quasi interamente, la basilica delle Anime Sante, in piazza Duomo.
Further fear in Abruzzo. A new quake registering 5.3 took place at 7:42 p.m. The basilica of the Holy Souls in Piazza Duomo of L’Aquilla collapsed.
The death toll stands at 229. The La Stampa link provides photos and videos as well.
I have forgotten the details, but I do recall that years ago when there was an earthquake which affected Assisi, the churches that had been reinforced with steel beams were the ones whose roofs collapsed. The others just bore with the tremors, as they had for centuries.
Der Spiegel has some good photos:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-41283.html#ref=nlint
My father’s hometown, Villa Sant’Angelo, was particularly badly hit and we seem to have lost one of our relatives. I would be most appreciatiative of prayers for my family and all the people of this region.
Yes, as the reports come in, it sounds like dozens were killed, and it must be dreadful.
Closer to home are the victims of several senseless murders (well, when are murders ever sensible) in the past couple of weeks, from the guy who went on a rampage at a school for immigrants to the father who killed his five children to get back at his wife.
Christ be with all of them.
The latest reports in the Italian papers speak of over 150 dead and 70,000 homeless.
I can only begin to imagine the terror that a new night brings.
Sympathy and prayers to Anthony Andreassi and his family.