MykeSoBe
April 10th, 2009, 07:28 AM
As you all may know, on Mon 6 April 2009 3:00am Italian time, a deadly earthquake hit the city of L'Aquila and many other communities in the Italian region of Abruzzo (pron. ab·rootz·tzo). As of Fri 10 Apr 2009 there are more than 287 people dead, and more than 20,000 homeless. Why is this of concern to me? Well, me and our family have lots of relatives in that part of Italy, especially in Castel di Sangro, Pizzone (very small town), and, the most, in L'Aquila itself or surrounding neighborhoods. My grandma's niece, Maria Zonetti's, house in nearby Avezzano got badly damaged along with perhaps 50,000+ buildings throughout Central Italy. Her husband Leonardo is a carabinieri and still has to go to work, but he and other cops' main jobs are to guard over the destroyed stores and make sure that youths don't rob them. They've already cought a nice bunch. This morning I watched the national funeral for the victims of the tragedy, and it was sad and brought tears to my eyes because I see people crying, I see all the funeral caskets, I think of the once-beautiful city of L'Aquila, and the background singing of the choir is depressive-like. (It did not air on American television, only on Italian stations, which my family gots RAItalia channel luckily because we're in America).
Well, away from the background information, there were many aftershocks after this earthquake. To me, this is a sign that in the near future, a new volcano might spurt out. I mean, the signs are too obvious. Otherwise, if not a new volcano, a new mountain may begin in the center of the city. Italy as a whole is more vulnerable to earthquakes than California and Japan combined, and is very mountainous, a sign that many faults lie throughout the peninsula. Before, I never possibly thought of an earthquake in that part of Italy, but now if I ever do go there I guess I'll have to be more cautious.
Off of that, there was a geologist by the name of Giampaolo Guliani who had predicted there would be an earthquake in the region, but everyone called him a freak and thought he was literally insane. When it did hit, he demanded an official apology. I believe that if they would've heeded his warning there could've been less tragedy. But, I guess they'll learn next time.
It'll probably take another 10 years to rebuild all the churches and cathedrals in the medieval city. There were 99 churches in the city, and most of them have either suffered unbearable damage or have collapsed completely. Many countries offered to help with the task of rebuilding the city, but Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi politely rejected it stating that Italy is a dignified nation and has sufficient resources to clean up the aftermath. But, in partnership with Italy, Obama offered help in order to rebuild the many damaged churches. I just hope that much of the city is rebuilt in 4 years when I'm 18, because I'll most likely live there or in Castel di Sangro, a village about 30+ miles south.
I hope you at least show some condolence to this tragedy, and comment as much as you want. For more info go to this Wikipedia article (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L%27Aquila_earthquake) or this Wikinews article (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Major_magnitude_6.3_earthquake_strikes_central_Italy). You may also still find it on the top stories section of many of the popular media websites. PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!
Well, away from the background information, there were many aftershocks after this earthquake. To me, this is a sign that in the near future, a new volcano might spurt out. I mean, the signs are too obvious. Otherwise, if not a new volcano, a new mountain may begin in the center of the city. Italy as a whole is more vulnerable to earthquakes than California and Japan combined, and is very mountainous, a sign that many faults lie throughout the peninsula. Before, I never possibly thought of an earthquake in that part of Italy, but now if I ever do go there I guess I'll have to be more cautious.
Off of that, there was a geologist by the name of Giampaolo Guliani who had predicted there would be an earthquake in the region, but everyone called him a freak and thought he was literally insane. When it did hit, he demanded an official apology. I believe that if they would've heeded his warning there could've been less tragedy. But, I guess they'll learn next time.
It'll probably take another 10 years to rebuild all the churches and cathedrals in the medieval city. There were 99 churches in the city, and most of them have either suffered unbearable damage or have collapsed completely. Many countries offered to help with the task of rebuilding the city, but Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi politely rejected it stating that Italy is a dignified nation and has sufficient resources to clean up the aftermath. But, in partnership with Italy, Obama offered help in order to rebuild the many damaged churches. I just hope that much of the city is rebuilt in 4 years when I'm 18, because I'll most likely live there or in Castel di Sangro, a village about 30+ miles south.
I hope you at least show some condolence to this tragedy, and comment as much as you want. For more info go to this Wikipedia article (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L%27Aquila_earthquake) or this Wikinews article (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Major_magnitude_6.3_earthquake_strikes_central_Italy). You may also still find it on the top stories section of many of the popular media websites. PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!