The Italian earthquake

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 09:24AM #1

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit central Italy at 3.36AM. This is the largest earthquake since the L'Aquila earthquake which killed around 300 people in 2009.
The earthquake was shallow at 10km deep.
Many people are trapped in collapsed buildings and the death toll is expected to be in the hundreds given the similarity to the L'Aquila earthquake.

Italy has declared a national state of emergency. The region that has been hit is where Italians and tourists go to avoid the summer heat.
Half the town of Amatrice has been destroyed. The earthquake was felt in Rome.
One of the worst natural disasters to hit Europe in a long time.

Boom_Bap · 24-08-2016 09:44AM

Thankfully the first thing I woke up to was a check in from a friend that lives in the region saying her and her family are fine.

LordSutch · 24-08-2016 09:44AM

Perugia is a lovely part of the world & God willing there won't be too many casualties in the very mountainous region of the country . . . .

(6.2 magnitude quake, 65 miles north-east of Rome).

We're so lucky we don't get such natural disasters here.

The Backwards Man · 24-08-2016 09:50AM

Earthquakes don't wear suicide vests, no one cares R.

Italy seems to be the only European country that suffers damaging earthquakes to any great extent, is it a geological thing or a geopolitical thing?

smash · 24-08-2016 09:52AM

Aerial photo here shows the scale of some of the damage: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37171953

Howard the Duck · 24-08-2016 09:57AM

Scary stuff, i'd imagine all the old buildings don't help them. I hope the death toll doesn't rise much more.

philstar · 24-08-2016 09:58AM

expect death-toll to rise & rise as the hours pass

RIP

meeeeh · 24-08-2016 09:59AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Earthquakes don't wear suicide vests, no one cares R.

Italy seems to be the only European country that suffers damaging earthquakes to any great extent, is it a geological thing or a geopolitical thing?

Geological. But it's also densely populated country so an earthquake will affect more people.

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/maps/v.php?id=3825

The Backwards Man · 24-08-2016 10:04AM

meeeeh wrote: »

Geological. But it's also densely populated country so an earthquake will affect more people.

I dunno, if you look at all the quakes Italy has, they are all in the, 5.8 - 6.2 range, almost all resulting in fatalities.

Now this is the most generalistic and overly simplistic analysis ever, but Chile regularly endures earthquakes many times greater with no fatalities, even up to magnitude 8.

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 10:10AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I dunno, if you look at all the quakes Italy has, they are all in the, 5.8 - 6.2 range, almost all resulting in fatalities.

Now this is the most generalistic and overly simplistic analysis ever, but Chile regularly endures earthquakes many times greater with no fatalities, even up to magnitude 8.

Italy gets hit with shallow earthquakes which are much more damaging than an earthquake that happens deep in the earth.

The Backwards Man · 24-08-2016 10:16AM

RobertKK wrote: »

Italy gets hit with shallow earthquakes which are much more damaging than an earthquake that happens deep in the earth.

Aye, true enough, but Chile has the strictest building codes on Earth too which probably helps.

meeeeh · 24-08-2016 10:29AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I dunno, if you look at all the quakes Italy has, they are all in the, 5.8 - 6.2 range, almost all resulting in fatalities.

Now this is the most generalistic and overly simplistic analysis ever, but Chile regularly endures earthquakes many times greater with no fatalities, even up to magnitude 8.

I might be wrong but a lot of Chilean earthquakes are of coast and those that are not caused some severe damage and casualties.

I'm not saying their planning laws are perfect and there is plenty corruption but it depends if epicentre is in populated area or somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Italy also has a lot of historical buildings. I've been about 100 km away from epicentre of 5.4 earthquake and it's no picnic.

The Backwards Man · 24-08-2016 10:36AM

meeeeh wrote: »

I might be wrong but a lot of Chilean earthquakes are of coast and those that are not caused some severe damage and casualties.

I'm not saying their planning laws are perfect and there is plenty corruption but it depends if epicentre is in populated area or somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Italy also has a lot of historical buildings. I've been about 100 km away from epicentre of 5.4 earthquake and it's no picnic.

Aye, but it's true what they say, no one has ever been killed by an earthquake.

kupus · 24-08-2016 10:41AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Earthquakes don't wear suicide vests, no one cares R.

Are you for real, why would you even bring up stuff like that. You just love the brownie points is that it?:rolleyes:

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 10:57AM

Death toll now at 37.
The problems for the rescue services is the infrastructure is also affected with landslides, rubble and severely damaged roads.

The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake versus this earthquake.
2009: a 6.3 tremor.
2016: a 6.2 tremor.

Both at a similar shallow depth of around 10km.

Time of earthquake:
2009: 3.32am
2016: 3.36am

endacl · 24-08-2016 11:00AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I dunno, if you look at all the quakes Italy has, they are all in the, 5.8 - 6.2 range, almost all resulting in fatalities.

Now this is the most generalistic and overly simplistic analysis ever, but Chile regularly endures earthquakes many times greater with no fatalities, even up to magnitude 8.

Chile is mostly MAMONAL.

MILES AND MILES OF NOT A LOT.

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 11:05AM

Putin has said Russia is in mourning with the Italian people and has offered assistance to Italy.

Shannon757 · 24-08-2016 11:08AM

Why do the earthquakes happen so early in the morning? Must be the worst thibg to wake up to.

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 11:15AM

Apart from the death toll and many many injured, the earthquake will likely cost Italy well in excess of €10 billion.

wakka12 · 24-08-2016 11:26AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Earthquakes don't wear suicide vests, no one cares R.

Italy seems to be the only European country that suffers damaging earthquakes to any great extent, is it a geological thing or a geopolitical thing?

What a childish and disrespectful comment

readyletsgo · 24-08-2016 11:32AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Earthquakes don't wear suicide vests, no one cares R.

I get ya, but you know lots of people on boards here won't get it.

Absolutely terrible thing to happen, RIP to the dead and I hope no more are added to the list

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 11:33AM

In the link you can see how the towns looked before the earthquake and after. It is so bad.
http://trib.al/IpmHn3n

RobertKK · 24-08-2016 12:15PM

A 6.5 to 6.8 earthquake has hit Myanmar.

Widdershins · 24-08-2016 12:27PM

We are so lucky that we don't have earthquakes in Ireland. I feel terrible for those people.

Shannon757 · 24-08-2016 12:39PM

RobertKK wrote: »

A 6.5 to 6.8 earthquake has hit Myanmar.

Is this the end of the world as we know it?

SEPT 23 1989 · 24-08-2016 12:44PM

Widdershins wrote: »

We are so lucky that we don't have earthquakes in Ireland. I feel terrible for those people.

most of what was thrown up during the tiger would collapse

we are very lucky indeed

Widdershins · 24-08-2016 12:46PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

most of what was thrown up during the tiger would collapse

we are very lucky indeed

We only need a strong wind for that!

bear1 · 24-08-2016 12:51PM

My family is from that region but luckily weren't touched.
Friends over 200km away woke up to their buildings swaying.
Not sure if anyone has even experienced an earth quake but it's seriously eerie.
I remember the L'Aquila quake of 09 and that city is still being repaired..

V_Moth · 24-08-2016 12:51PM

Widdershins wrote: »

We are so lucky that we don't have earthquakes in Ireland. I feel terrible for those people.

We do get earthquakes, every day in fact:

http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent

Widdershins · 24-08-2016 12:54PM

V_Moth wrote: »

We do get earthquakes, every day in fact:

http://earthquaketrack.com/p/ireland/recent

I forgot about that. I meant serious earthquakes. I think there was one that could be felt slightly a couple of years ago on the East coast and in Wales.

Wigglepuppy · 24-08-2016 12:54PM

wakka12 wrote: »

What a childish and disrespectful comment

I know. And "no one" cares in a thread where people are talking about it.

readyletsgo wrote: »

I get ya, but you know lots of people on boards here won't get it.

What's there to "get"?

The Italian earthquake

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