Earthquake in Abruzzo 6th April 2009, in L'Aquila and its province

[HouseAbruzzo]

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake has been recorded this morning at 3.32 hrs in L'Aquila and its province. Early estimates foresee over 15000 buildings been damaged in L'Aquila and other villages nearby. So far 20 victims were counted by the fire brigade, the police and all public bodies. I live in Spoltore, a few kilometers from Pescara, and was woken up by a very strong shockwave which shaked my house and made all hung appliances to swing. The A24 and the A25 and other main communication roads have been closed. Check the news before travelling to of from Abruzzo.
The towns affected are L'Aquila, Paganica, Castelnuovo, Poggio Picenze, Tornimparte, Fossa, Totani and some others.

[Gala Placidia]

Hi Gianpiero. Good to hear that you are fine. On TV it looks as if there are important damages and they still do not know the number of victims.

[HouseAbruzzo]

Hi and thanks.
I check Ansa and Reuters websites for news updates, the television is not reliable at all on figures.
ANSA.it
http://it.reuters.com/

[Angie and Robert]

We felt it here, but are far enough away for only the windows to shake , and no damage, but feel very sorry for those left homeless and those who have lost family and friends.
A

[HouseAbruzzo]

If any foreign houseowners had their property damaged, I am available to assist and advice on the necessary procedures to get the government financial aid which is granted in a situation like this.
I survived the 23rd November 1980 earthquake in Campania, 60 seconds of 6.9 Richter scale magnitude, which makes this one in Abruzzo look like a piece of cake.
I know how stressing is to solve any problems related to such an extraordinary event.
Count on me for any help you might need.

[maureen]

hi everyone, awful news about the earthquake, we have a house in civitaquana about one hour away i rang my friend in the village and they said the village got a shock but no other problems, we are on the other side of the mountains so not affected i can only hope that is the end of it,Maureen

[M&C]

Heard the awful news about this on GMTV this morning and on the BBC website. 27 dead so far including 5 children. We're praying for the people there, and wondering if there's anything else we can do to help. Glad to hear people on this forum are ok.

We still have a dream to one day make Italy our home, and this does not diminish it. We just feel a bit helpless in this situation.

[HouseAbruzzo]

Hi M&C, soon they will set up an official helpline for donations, I'll publish details here when available. Let's pray for all those been hit.

[HouseAbruzzo]

This is the map published by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, showing the italian territory with the the areas more at risk of earthquakes.
There is a pdf document on http://zonesismiche.mi.ingv.it/docum...a_opcm3519.pdf

[HouseAbruzzo]

A larger version of the map.