"It's As If The Whole City Fell Down" - Towns Collapse After Strongest Quake In 35 Years Hits Italy

"It's As If The Whole City Fell Down" - Towns Collapse After Strongest Quake In 35 Years Hits Italy

by Tyler Durden

Oct 30, 2016 9:52

On Wednesday, when we reported on the latest set of powerful, shallow quakes to strike central Italy, which themselves were aftershocks of the deadly August 24 earthquake which killed 300 people and injured many more, we quoted Salvatore Mazza, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology who said that "The earthquake today has further disrupted the tectonic plates, and in the coming hours we may see aftershocks of today’s earthquake on top of those from August 24", and concluded that it is likely that more quakes are coming.

We didn't have long to wait, and overnight central Italy was hit by another powerful earthquake Sunday, toppling buildings that had recently withstood other major quakes and sending panicked residents back into the streets, but luckily causing no immediate loss of life. That there were no reports of deaths was largely due to the fact that thousands of residents left their homes after two strong jolts last week shook the same mountainous area.

As AP reports, the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 was the strongest to strike the country in nearly 36 years.

Some 20 people were injured, many lightly, authorities said.

The Apennine Mountain region of central Italy, located along a major fault line, has been the site of dozens of significant earthquakes, including an Aug. 24 quake with a 6.1 magnitude that killed nearly 300 people. Back-to-back jolts on Wednesday left thousands more people homeless, but the only death reported resulted from a heart attack.

Closest to the epicenter was the ancient city of Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict, the father of monasticism and famed for its Benedictine monastery. Witnesses said the 14th Century St. Benedict cathedral collapsed in the quake, with only the facade still standing.