Earthquake leaves at six dead in central Italy

BBC ^ | August24, 2016 | Staff

[QT3.14]

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least six people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said.

The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76 km (47 miles) southeast of the city of Perugia, at the very shallow depth of 10km (six miles), the USGS said.

The mayor of one town told Italian radio that "half the town is gone".

In Rome, some buildings shook for 20 seconds, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

A family of four had been found under rubble in the town of Accumoli, the town's mayor Stefano Petrucci told RAI TV.

[Salvation]

Now they are saying 10 dead.

[Biggirl]

Last count 37 killed.

[Moltke]

Horrible. I wonder how many “refugees” will volunteer to help...

[Claud]

Of course a structure in Italy that’s been standing that long has likely made it through multiple earthquakes already.

[Prince of Space]

We were in Long Beach for the Whittier Narrows quake, and I really thought it was the Big One!

[gleeaikin]

The count is now above 250. Here is a link with before and after pictures. You can see where more recently built buildings have survived mostly intact, but older ones total collapsed.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/24/world/europe/italy-earthquake-before-after-amatrice-accumoli.html?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange&_r=0

I have been in the 1957 Mexico City quake at 7.5, and the recent Mineral, VA quake while living near DC. This recent quake felt different than the earlier one. My bedroom wall started shuddering rapidly for about 15 seconds. I immediately realized it was a quake. Friends in DC had chimney damage, minor cracks in plaster walls, and some doors that now pinch. Of course the Washington Monument and National Cathedral suffered $millions in damage. The repairs on the WM have been made, but the elevator still has quake related problems. The NC has raised money, but $millions still need to be spent.

Mexico City is built on a lake bed. There this much stronger quake felt like the rolling motion of a New York subway train. At 1 am I was walking home from a party with a friend and started to stagger. “But I only had 2 drinks,” I exclaimed. “Earthquake” cried my friend from San Diego. I saw the electric/telephone poles waving from side to side. The only sound was the wires slapping against each other. We ran to the middle of the deserted intersection and clung to each other to keep from falling. Three blocks away a car was slowly weaving towards us. It lasted over a minute and we walked to my shared apartment building on the Reforma. Upstairs all the tall planters had fallen over, dirt was everywhere, the guy on the next floor had been rolled out of his bed, the girl in the next room had run into the living room/dining room because she thought a tree was going to fall into her bedroom, the chandelier had been swinging from one to the other side hitting the ceiling, and the maid was whimpering in a pile of laundry under the dining table. Other than that, no serious damage in my building. But other major buildings had to be torn down, over 150 people died in an apartment owned by actor Cantinflas where graft in construction safety was charged, and when the gold statue atop the monument to independence fell it was discovered the gold was gone and there was only a thin layer on the surface. This was the worst quake in over 50 years, but dwarfed by the terrible quake in the 1980s.

While people were fighting nuclear power giant Exelon’s attempt to move into the MD, DC area, it was noted that near the North Anna, VA nuclear plant the reading was 5.8. That plant was built to a 6.0 standard. Exelon controls 23 nuclear plants in a number of states. People wonder what standard those plants are built to.