An earthquake struck L’Aquila, Italy, on 6 April 2009. 308 people were killed and 6500 people were left homeless after this deadly earthquake in L’Aquila, which has a population of about 70 000 people, making this 6.3-magnitude quake Italy’s deadliest since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.
This earthquake is believed to have been caused by the great forces made by the moving crustal plates. Italy is in between the African plate and the Eurasian plate. A smaller “microplate” had also been pressing into Italy from the east , causing the landmass to compress. When the landmasses compress, they bundle up into ridges which are the Apennine mountains where the L’Aquila earthquake took place.
This earthquake caused a lot of damage to the buildings in L’Aquila. For instance, almost the whole dome of the 18-century church of Anime Saint fell down and Porta Napoli, the oldest gate in the city, was destroyed. Even building that were thought to be “ earthquake-proof “ were damaged.
The Italian government had tried to help solve the financial problems of the survivors by approving of emergency financial measures by providing money to pay rents and cutting off gas and electricity bills for two months. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has even offered to house some of the thousands of people who are homeless in some of his homes.
Damage in such events can be minimized by improving the structure of the building. Most buildings that topple in earthquakes are due to poor structure of the building. Authorities can warn residents of upcoming earthquakes if possible. In this case, L’Aquila had three months of tremors, each one stronger than the previous one. Authorities could have warned residents of a possibility of an upcoming earthquake. That way, more lives will be saved.
