springflower

(1.Above: A house severely damaged by the earthquake)

The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake occurred at 3.32a.m. local time on 6 April 2009, in the city of L'Aquila in central Italy

(2.Right: L'Aquila's position in Italy)

Subduction of the Adria micro-plate beneath Italy caused the Apennine Mountains, anaccretionary wedge. At the same time, the Eurasian and African plates collide and cause the Alpine mountain belt to move further north and the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin to the west. Different tectonic styles act at the same time in the region surrounding Italy,causing a lot of friction between the plates. The Tyrrhenian basin opening faster than the subduction between the Eurasian and African plates and the east-west extensional tectonics along the Apennine belt caused the earthquake.

(3.right: map of the Tyrrhenian basin, Adria micro-plate and Italy)

The magnitude of the event was 5.8 on the Richter scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale. The earthquake could even be felt in Rome. In the following 2 days after the quake, aftershocks only slightly weaker than the main shock was felt.

308 people wer killed in the earthquake and about 1500 people were injured. Approximately 65000 people were homeless due to the fact that many buildings either collapsed or suffered damage. The earthquake damaged some of the city's state archives too, as museums and medieval structures suffered extensive damage. Modern buildings were not spared by the earthquake either. A dormitory at the University of L'Aquila entirely collapsed, and the new wing in the city's hospital, which was thought capable of resisting any earthquake had to be

closed due to the damage inflicted on it by the earthquake.

(4.Above right: A church that was badly damaged- the dome fell off)
(5.Right: Houses destroyed by the earthquake)

The government set up tents homeless camps for the

people, and also provided the victims with medical care and food. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told the people that they are "paying for everything", and should treat it as a "camping weekend".(This statement caused a controversy.) He also offered some of his houses to the victims.

(6.right: tents in homeless camps)

Firstly, I feel that everyone in the country should treat earthquake warnings seriously, even though the predictions may not always be accurate. This puts every person on his/her guard and many precautions can be made, like going through the evacuation routes in each place. Secondly, I think that the government should make sure that all buildings meet a certain standard. They should also monitor the construction materials used, so that the buildings will not fall so easily once the earthquake strikes.

Bibliography

TEXT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L'Aquila_earthquake

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2009/us2009/caf

PICTURES

1,5,6 > http://www.boston.com/

2 > http://www.straitstimes.com/

3 > http://www.earthmagazine.org/

4 > http://news.nationalgeographic.com/