2009 Abruzzo Earthquake

by Mike Mollica (10 Nov 09)

Earthquakes, or “terremoti” in Italy are nothing novel. They happen frequently, and sometimes violently, but they just aren’t all that often deadly. This is why when Italian laboratory technician Giampaolo Giuliani predicted on March 30th, 2009 that a major earthquake was imminent a smallish comune (town) in the province of L’Aquila (pop. 80k), he was ostracized, criticized and his science debunked. However, seven short days later, as the ground began to tremble, and the prophecy was realized, Italy was on the cusp of receiving its most deadly earthquake in almost 30 years.

Italy is a very seismically active country, dotted with volcanoes and of course, its glorious Appenine mountain range, which spans the entire length of the boot. Those impressive mountains were the creation of what is thought to be a shifting subduction zone in which the African Plate is descending beneath the Eurasian Plate, wedging those tall peaks up over millions of years. Italy also has no less than 10 active volcanoes (most of them south of Rome), which is also a tell-tale sign of tectonic activity in a region.

The disaster occurred in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, with its western border lying less than 50 miles due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. The earthquake’s epicenter was in the province of L’Aquila, and measured 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale. The final death toll is reported to be 308, 22 of them children. There were 1,500 injured and almost 70,000 were left without home or shelter. Thankfully, the Italian government sprang quickly to action, and in the short term, set up temporary shelter tents to house the homeless.

More than six months later, residents are slowly being moved out of the tent villages and into new high-tech apartment homes. One positive initiative to emerge from the rubble is the creation of the largest photovoltaic village in Europe with some 35,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels being placed on the roofs of the earthquake proof apartment blocks. Thermal isolation plaster boards provide good insulation, far better than most of the homes that were owned by these stranded Italians. The homes are seismically fitted, much like the construction techniques found in California’s earthquake zones. Traditional stone blocks and mortar have given way to lumber and drywall materials, and these new homes are engineered to withstand strong quakes. Rainwater is collected and held for use in landscape irrigation. Every week Italian authorities hand over 300 new apartments. By January 2010, more than 16,000 people will be calling these low-energy structures home, however many are concerned that the over 700 million euro allocated to this relief has left the fund wallet dry to rebuild the historical center of L’Aquila, which was hardest hit in the quake. The buildings that received the most damage were schools, hospitals and churches… many of which are unlikely to be restored to their previous splendor. Aside from the displaced city-dwellers of L'Aquila, the surrounding farming communities have also been suffering the consequences of the earthquake. The disaster occurred just before Easter, when sheep farmers would have sold an enormous amount of lamb, milk and cheese. They now deal with a huge surplus of inventory, including the cost of rearing the many animals that were not used last year, and freezing of all the milk that would have been used for cheese.

With roughly seven months passed since the quake, the consensus is that the situation is deteriorating rather than improving, with aftershocks occurring almost daily. This has taken a psychological toll on those who have stayed in the province, and has kept many of the deserters from coming back. Rumors abound that the mafia and its corrupting ways are hindering some of the progress. There are 40,000 people are still in tent cities and hosted eco-apartments, and rebuilding of the historic part of the city is slow going. Tourism has obviously fallen off a cliff, and the area just seems to be in a “stalled” state, in bad need of a jump start. This would require those who have left the region to move back… and for a strategic rebuilding plan to occur, one that would lay out a blueprint for a functional rebuilding of these peoples’ culture and way of life. It is not only homes that need to be repaired, but retail stores, gas stations, bakeries, meat markets and restaurants. This will bring back not only the residents who have abandoned the tattered province of L’Aquila, but also the tourist dollars that would be so desperately needed to support a reconstruction initiative in Abruzzo.