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The Earthquakes in Italy

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Psychedelicate She/Her Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: That's rough, buddy
She/Her
#1: Oct 30th 2016 at 7:23:23 PM

So 2016 has not been a good year for Italy in terms of earthquakes.

In addition to the massive quake that occurred yesterday, there were also two earthquakes last week, and yet another back in August. All of these quakes took place in central Italy. If my memory is correct, there has been a total of about 300 deaths caused by these quakes - no deaths from the one yesterday have been recorded, probably because the villages it affected have already been mostly abandoned. My boyfriend, who resides in the northern part of Italy, told me that he felt a brief spurt of seismic activity occur in his home; thankfully, he's fine and he lives in an area that is not affected by the quakes themselves.

With the frequency of these earthquakes in Italy in particular, it seems like their tectonic plates are a little... unstable. Will more of them occur this year? I hope not.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#3: Oct 31st 2016 at 6:26:42 PM

[up][up]The thing is....this is not new. It always cycles, and the Med has often had bouts of quakes all along it.

Which, considering the tectonic cluster fruitcake there is going on there, is understandable.

I mean, the Horn of Africa and the entire Rift Valley has been feeling particularly frisky for the last 30 years, and that has direct knock-on effects up and down the linked faults.

edited 31st Oct '16 7:22:13 PM by Euodiachloris

Psychedelicate She/Her Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: That's rough, buddy
She/Her
#4: Oct 31st 2016 at 7:18:05 PM

It still seems particularly bad this year, though. A good chunk of central Italy will be populated by ruined villages at this point.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#5: Nov 4th 2016 at 3:48:27 PM

It's the Apennine fault. In the Alps and in Sicily, Africa collides with Europe. Between these two collision zones, the Apennine fault is the offset.

The other problem is that unlike, say, California, Italy does not have much in terms of earthquake proofing, also because many buildings are too old.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Psychedelicate She/Her Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: That's rough, buddy
She/Her
#6: Nov 4th 2016 at 10:35:08 PM

Yeah, I do get that certain areas of Italy do contain very valuable historical buildings and such, but those buildings aren't gonna stick around forever. They should be updated with the necessary protections for surviving an earthquake, if possible.

Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#7: Nov 5th 2016 at 12:40:08 AM

[up][up] The only reason there are not that many old buildings in California is devastating earthquakes pretty much flattened most of the old buildings already in 1922 and 1952.

Central California looked like Hiroshima after the 52 earthquake.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8: Nov 5th 2016 at 3:02:34 AM

Really? My impression is that the recentness of most buildings there is the reason, also because both the Kern County and San Francisco earthquakes only affected small parts of the state.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#9: Nov 5th 2016 at 6:56:44 AM

[up][up]An 1840ish build collapsing in 1922 isn't old, though. By Italian yardsticks, that's barely worn in. wink

Quite a lot of the older stuff is sufficiently engineered to survive (not unscathed, though: and, people have been stinting on the upkeep, which is the main issue)... And, has survived cycles of this before.

It's actually the newer stuff that's really worrying: it'll be the first time it's been put through its paces, and little of it has been designed to. :/

edited 5th Nov '16 6:57:20 AM by Euodiachloris

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#10: Nov 6th 2016 at 12:36:05 PM

[up]X3 Old by California standard and old by Italian standard are two very different things.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
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