Magnitude 6.2 earthquake in Italy

Malevolence · 24 Aug 2016 at 05:07

Centred about 50 miles South East of Perugia and very shallow too, only 6 miles deep. News doesn't sound good either, two confirmed dead, reports of half a town just disappearing and loads of people trapped under rubble.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/24/italy-quake-64-magnitude-tremor-rocks-perugia/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37171953

shaf · 24 Aug 2016 at 05:54

Hope everyone is ok.

Energize · 24 Aug 2016 at 06:50

shaf said:
Hope everyone is ok.

Malevolence said:
two confirmed dead,

Doesn't look like it...

Cosimo · 24 Aug 2016 at 07:12

Six dead now and many trapped. The mayor of one town said that "half the town is gone".

FTM · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:07

its easy to forget Italy is still quite geologically active

Uther · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:23

'At least' 20 dead now

do_ron_ron · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:24

FTM said:
its easy to forget Italy is still quite geologically active

Italy, Greece and the Adriatic countries. Caused by Africa's push northwards. Saw a prog on Earth's continents with Prof Stewart and he said the Med or just above it would eventually become Europe's Himalayas.

Hope there are not too many casualties.

Spuj · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:26

Uther said:
'At least' 20 dead now

Unfortunately I don't think this will be the final number we will be seeing either

Jono · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:40

I wonder how our houses would fare compared to those. RIP to the dead

do_ron_ron · 24 Aug 2016 at 10:43

Jono said:
I wonder how our houses would fare compared to those. RIP to the dead

Our houses would crumple as they are not built to any standard that would be safe in am earthquake zone.

RaohNS · 24 Aug 2016 at 11:02

Cosimo · 24 Aug 2016 at 11:21

Death toll rising rapidly:

at least 37 people dead and 150 missing

RIP

Hotwired · 24 Aug 2016 at 11:22

I'll take the mediocre weather and no catastrophic natural events in the uk any day.

(I don't consider getting flooded on a floodplain a natural disaster)

do_ron_ron said:
Our houses would crumple as they are not built to any standard that would be safe in am earthquake zone.

That town did not look remotely built against earthquake damage either.

The only earthquake protection I'm aware of is on hugely expensive buildings.

Hagar · 24 Aug 2016 at 11:35

Under Eurocodes, you are required to consider seismic events. However the UK is in a region of low seismicity so only large and important structures need to have earthquake resistance designed for. Tunnels, bridges and power stations are examples.

Most regions historically have not had housing designed to resist earthquakes, preferring to rebuild instead. However recently building codes have been strengthened in places like Wellington NZ and Japan in light of recent incidence.

Malevolence · 24 Aug 2016 at 17:37

73 dead, and still hundreds of people under rubble. Sad news.

thedoc46 · 24 Aug 2016 at 20:32

Horrible horrible story. Can't imagine what it must be like to be caught in an earthquake, and trapped alive. Knowing that your chance of rescue is hrs if not days away.

RIP to all those that have died, and to all those that will.

Sliver · 24 Aug 2016 at 20:41

I'm glad the UK is mostly a boring place to live after seeing the devastation over in Italy. It's the birth lottery, when you're born in such a potentially violent part of the planet. Happening through the night too was even worse.

Jono · 25 Aug 2016 at 08:54

Now nearly 250 confirmed dead. Horrible

But not unexpected, apparently.

cheesyboy · 25 Aug 2016 at 09:20

I somewhat ignored this story yesterday, with less than half a dozen deaths reported when I saw the reports during breakfast. But seeing headlines this morning of nearly 250 confirmed fatalities.... wow - it's just awful

LoadsaMoney · 25 Aug 2016 at 13:46

Just broke on the BEEB, just had a major aftershock

Terrible, RIP to all