Posted on 08/23/2016 9:41:34 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Must be so bad due to its shallowness and probably the geology. 6.2 in So Cal is serious, but this sounds worse.
I would assume that which wasnt destroyed from WWII was built in the 1800s or earlier, so no building codes or standards.
Did it leave after the quake?
Must not be very densly populated, for such building standards to go unforced for so long. Italy already has enough problems with unwanted immigrants being dumped onto their streets. The EU does not seem to know how to win friends and influence people, unless by imposed order and decree.
Yep, sounds like old construction. But I must add at or near epicenter during a shallow 6.2 event, it can make one think the worlds coming to an end. But with the right construction it holds up. It’s pretty amazing. Anything much above that like approaching the mid 6s and up, is when most damage starts. I’ve seen it rock so hard hanging chandeliers were striking ceilings.
Looks like old stone facades just fell off the fronts of buildings/structures. Not good for those who happen to be below.
Thanks for posting BUMP!
I have experienced a 7.1 here in SoCal, but the epicenter was about 50 miles away. Still, it was scary enough that I grabbed my purse and ran out the door toward my car in the parking lot (where nothing can fall on you).
Here’s live coverage by Sky News (Italian).
https://www.firstonetv.eu/en/stream/it/41
The death toll is going to be much higher. Several towns were wiped out, and it was in the middle of the night (3:30 am).
Very similar to the L’Aquila earthquake of 2009. The epicenter is about 25 miles from there. Luckily there are no big towns right near the epicenter.
I’ve been at the epicenter of some pretty good shakers; the Whitter Narrows quake of 1987 comes to mind when thinking of this quake; unreinforced masonry buildings at the epicenter with a shallow depth of 8 miles (It was a 5.9.)
Considering the building standards in California, I would not want to imagine being in Italy (6.2 vs 5.9) with an even shallower quake (6 miles instead of nearly 9) with a higher magnitude.
I hope that most survived with just scrapes and bruises but rationally, three died in Whittier directly from the quake, and five more from associated events, so I’m going to really believe the PAGER assumption that the deaths will most likely be in the dozens if not hundreds and that at least hundreds if not thousands of unreinforced heritage buildings failed during this quake.
After our 7.1, they began hurriedly finishing the retro-fit for all our overpasses in the San Diego area.
Sky News International Live:
Peak vacation time in the mountains where this happened, at least 10 confirmed dead, so far, and lots of reports of “Massive Damage”.
I went thru both Sylmar quakes and many others.
Amatrice after...
Some of the houses and building in small Italian towns are literally 100’s of years old. You can easily live in a 500 year old farm house. No building codes at all in 1616.
They can’t modify the buildings exteriors because they want to maintain the touristy quaintness and historicalness of the countryside.
Absolutely horrific and sad. Prayers for all of the good people of Italy...
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