New Zealand Local Weather Forum
Weather Discussion => International => Topic started by: JennyLeez on May 30, 2012, 12:55:47 AM
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MILAN, Italy — A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit northern Italy on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people in the same region still struggling to recover from another fatal tremor on May 20.
Premier Mario Monti pledged in a hastily called news conference that the government will do "all that it must and all that is possible in the briefest period to guarantee the resumption of normal life in this area that is so special, so important and so productive for Italy."
The quake, which struck just after 9:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), was centred 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the city of Bologna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was just miles from where a 6.0 temblor killed seven people earlier this month. The quake was felt from Piedmont in northwestern Italy to Venice in the northeast, and as far north as Austria.
The ANSA news agency reported that 10 people had died, while the LaPresse news agency said others were still buried under the rubble of collapsed homes and factories. Concordia Mayor Carlo Marchini confirmed the death of one person struck by falling debris in the town's historic centre.
The mayor of San Felice sul Panaro told Sky News 24 that there were fatalities in his town. News media said a tower in the town had collapsed.
As far away as Milan, tall buildings and schools were evacuated as a precaution before people were allowed to re-enter. Train lines connecting Bologna with other northern cities were stopped while authorities checked for any damage.
When the quake hit Tuesday, Monti was meeting with emergency officials in Rome to discuss the impact of the earlier quake, which struck in the middle of the night and left at least 7,000 homeless.
Television footage on Sky News 24 showed evacuees from the May 20 quake peering out of their shaking emergency tents in disbelief. In the first quake, four of the victims were working overnight shifts in factories that collapsed; the other three died of heart conditions or other illnesses brought on by fear.
Residents had just been taking tentative steps toward resuming normal life when the second quake struck. In the town of Sant'Agostino, a daycare centre had just reopened. In the town of Concordia, the mayor had scheduled a town meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the aftermath of the first quake.
The May 20 quake was described by Italian emergency officials as the worst to hit the region since the 1300s. In addition to the deaths, it knocked down a clock tower and other centuries-old buildings and caused millions in losses to a region known for making Parmesan cheese. Its epicenter was about 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Bologna.
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Update:
At least 16 people died, one was missing and 350 were injured after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook northern Italy Tuesday, Italian authorities said.
The earthquake, which forced thousands of people from their homes, came nine days after a 6.0-magnitude quake struck the same region, killing seven people.
Italian civil protection authorities said two of Tuesday's deaths were not directly caused by the quake.
Tuesday's quake was followed by dozens of aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded one aftershock of 5.6 magnitude.
The quakes have displaced some 14,000 people, the civil protection agency said.
Tuesday's earthquake was centered in the province of Modena, near Bologna. The towns of Mirandola and Cavezzo were closest to the epicenter, civil protection authorities said.
Multiple earthquakes hit northern Italy Witnesses reported on Twitter that Cavezzo was about 70% destroyed. Pictures purportedly from the town, as well as a video stream from Italian newspaper Corriere de la Serra, show damaged and destroyed buildings.
Second quake leaves Italians in shock "People are very scared. It's been shaking nonstop for the past week," said journalist Andrea Vogt, who was near the epicenter.
Further reading at Weather Watch (http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/another-deadly-earthquake-shakes-northern-italy)
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Also the Ferrari and Ducati factories have closed for a brief period to allow workers to care for relatives and those involved in the damage and loss of life. The Ducati factory was quite a bit closer to the epicentres.
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Italy – 800 aftershocks and ‘more to come’
The Emilia Romagna area “could be shaking violently for years to come,” says this article in The Guardian.
“Since they were first thrown out of bed in the early hours of 20 May by a 6.0-magnitude quake, residents’ nerves have been jarred by 800 aftershocks.”
It is likely that this spate of earthquakes “could continue for years,” said Giuliano Panza, professor of seismology at the University of Trieste.
“It is down to the pressure caused as the Apennine mountains push slowly north under the Po valley,” explained Giulio Selvaggi, director of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology. “The whole area has been shaking for a year, with shocks above 4.5, and we just cannot say if we have reached the climax yet.”
Experts point out that Italy is, and always has been, a seismic hotspot, most recently seen in L’Aquila, where 300 died in 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/29/italy-earthquakes-800-aftershocks-emilia
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Italy earthquake kills thousands of fish
Bees can’t find their way back to their hives
9 Jun 2012 – “About an hour ago, (4.05 am local time) I felt an earthquake, a magnitude 4.5, with epicenter about 17 miles north from my home,” says Italian geologist Dr Mirco Poletto.
“The strange thing is that yesterday I found about twenty bees trying to get into my house. They seemed clearly lost and so I thought about what you wrote in Not by Fire but by Ice about the electromagnetic effects before an earthquake. Maybe they felt a variation in the local geomagnetic field and could not find the way back to their hive.”
This ties in with an email that Dr Poletto sent to me yesterday about thousands that fish that died as a result of the big earthquakes in Italy a couple of weeks ago.
“Many fishes died in the area hit by the last earthquakes in Emilia region,” wrote Dr Poletto. “Water analysis is in progress to determine if the fish died due to heat flow from the soil or by gases released by the earthquake. I think the fishes may died due to electromagnetic causes.”
As of now, scientists speculate that jets of hot water released from underground by the earthquake may have suffocated the fish. That may be. But I’m wondering if their deaths may have been caused by electromagnetic forces. I’m hoping that the scientists can do a necropsy to see if the fish may have been electrocuted.
See photo:
“Mysterious die-off of fish in the earthquake-hit areas of Emilia Romagna”:
http://newapocalypse.altervista.org/blog/2012/06/06/misteriosa-moria-di-pesci-nelle-zone-t erremotate-dellemilia-romagna/