Italy Ignored Earthquake Warnings
"Strong aftershocks rock Italy as death toll climbs; 235 are dead, 15 missing after quake" by Marta Falconi, Associated Press | April 8, 2009
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The death toll from Italy's worst earthquake in three decades climbed to 235, with 15 still missing, civil protection officials said. The dead included four students trapped in the rubble of a dormitory of the University of L'Aquila, the ANSA news agency reported.
Rescue crews gave up gingerly removing debris by hand and brought in huge pincers that pulled off parts of the dorm roof, balconies and walls, showering debris down. "Unless there is a miracle, I've been told [by rescuers] that they probably are dead," university rector Ferdinando Di Orio said.
A strong aftershock at 7:47 p.m. rained debris on screaming residents and rescue crews, who ran from the site. "I want to go home! I want to go home!" screamed a woman identified only as Patrizia after chunks of facade rained down on them from a badly cracked building.
Her hands trembled as rescue workers gave her a cup of water. Her boyfriend, Agostino Paride, 33, an engineer, said they had driven to L'Aquila from Civitella Rovedo, some 45 miles away, to bring food and clothes to relatives in a tent camp. To shelter the homeless against another chilly night in the mountains, some 20 tent cities sprouted in open spaces around L'Aquila and surrounding towns.
We don't need earthquakes for that here in AmeriKa: Slow Saturday Special: Tent City
Field kitchens, medical supplies, and clowns with bubbles - to entertain traumatized children - were brought in. Officials estimated Monday that 50,000 people had been left homeless by the quake. By yesterday evening, that number was lowered to between 17,000 and 25,000, because many moved in with friends or relatives....
Experts say the vast majority of buildings in the most vulnerable regions of earthquake-prone Italy don't meet modern seismic safety standards. Nearly half of Italy is labeled "dangerous" in terms of seismic activity, according to a 2008 report by Enzo Boschi, of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, and other Italian geologists and civil protection experts. But only 14 percent of buildings in that vulnerable swath were built to seismic-safety standards, the report said....
The same government that ignored the "chicken little" scientist that HAPPENED to be CORRECT?
