Photo from Guardian Al Fresco:Eyewitness photoIt is one year ago today April 6th 2009. K was in Abruzzo, I was in the UK when I first heard of the devastating tremor that was to claim 308 lives and destroy so many people's way of living. One year on and the people of Aquila are rebuilding their lives, slowly but surely. A lot of candle-lit processions have been held around the Abruzzo area to commemorate the 1st anniversary. Today as a mark of respect for the victims there will be a minute's silence in Aquila and a lot of the inhabitants are taking an unofficial day off to mourn.
Links to articles mentioning Aquila and the first anniversary:
Il Centro Abruzzo (in Italian)
In Abruzzo (in Italian)
BBC News
Blog from Italy by Alex Roe
Business Week
Guardian.co.uk News
The Man who predicted an earthquake article from the Guardian
1st hand account from my hubby who was in Abruzzo that fateful night on April 6th 2009. His post was mentioned on US media as one of the first to come out of the region.
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2 comments:
Hi Janet,
I remember being quite shocked by this news last year, so can only imagine what you and yours must have been going through.
I was teaching an Italian girl from Spezia at the time, who had family in one of the areas affected by the 'quake (I can't remember the name, and Italian geography isn't my strong suit) so it was a tense time for her. Luckily, her family were ok.
But, what a shocker. Thanks for reminding us of this. How has the region recovered since last year?
All the best
Mike
Hi Mike
Thanks for popping by. I felt I wanted to write about the earthquake anniversary as it is still so fresh in everyone's minds here in Abruzzo. The region is recovering slowly and replacement houses have been built, but of course not enough yet.
I met a girl last year whose house was mostly destroyed by the quake and she and her family had luckily been rehoused in a wooden house which had been built specifically for those who had lost their homes. Of course, she was grateful but she said she just wanted to get back into her house, which was totally unsafe at the time. It really brought home the anguish and stress that people are still going through.
To date, according to today's Il Centro newspaper, 52,275 victims of the earthquake have been assisted in one form or another by the regional authorities.
All the best
Janet
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