-Italian quake devastates town; leaves many questions unanswered in Italy's seismic region...
As many already know, Italy was rocked by yet another earthquake, just six years after the one in Aquila that left extensive damage, and that area is still continuing to recover (repairing & rebuilding) to this day.
Over 250 people feared dead and many hundreds injured, whole towns and communities wiped out in Central Italy, particularly the town of Amatrice. The quake was felt as far away as in the city of Rome (which is three hours east of there).
Many of these historic & medieval towns do not conform to new building codes as compared to city buildings and condos being built. Many of these communities are by mountainous areas and are located in one of the most intense seismic region in the world.
Premier Renzi authorized a preliminary 50 million euros in emergency funding and the government cancelled taxes for residents, pro-forma measures that are just the start of what will be a long and costly rebuilding campaign. He announced a new initiative, "Italian Homes," to answer years of criticism over shoddy construction across the country, which has the highest seismic hazard in Western Europe.
But he also said that it was "absurd" to think that Italy could build completely quake-proof buildings.
"It's illusory to think you can control everything," he told a news conference. "It's difficult to imagine it could have been avoided simply using different building technology. We're talking about medieval-era towns."
Those old towns do not have to conform to the country's anti-seismic building codes. Making matters worse, those codes often aren't applied even when new buildings are built.
Story:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/151f83ea96754bb5beaeb355c2e7fc8b/