Earthquake in Italy

Does anyone know if the villages to the east of L'Aquila were badly affected?  I'm especially interested in any news about the village of Chieti, about 30 miles to the east of L'Aquila.  All my ancestors are from that one tiny town, perched on the top of a mountain.

The really sad thing is that it was the ancient buildings that fell, but the worst was the new dorm building that collapsed killing the students, in L'Aquila - shouldn't that have been built to withstand quakes? It sits on a major fault. 

Evidently that has been the question a lot of people are asking.

Prayers and thoughts out for the victims.

If you scroll down on this page, claire, there's a map that shows some nearby towns that were affected - it doesn't list Chieti, but maybe you'll know if it's in that range

Thanks nomo.  I saw that map and the outer ring of the epicenter is about 15 miles to the east of Chieti village.  Chieti is also the name of the provence.  I don't know how far earthquakes reach.  This would be like the distance between San Francisco and Hayward, CA.  I should think it would be felt, but maybe not do damage.  However, those medieval buildings that sit on steep hills could easily come down.

This is a view of Chieti from the air, and one from the mountainside.  See what I mean?

Definitely see what you mean.

Would Twitter maybe be a good avenue to find out what's going on in Chieti?

I don't belong to it, but some here do - maybe they can check?

I dont know what Italy safety standards are but in the United States each state has a building code that has a specific factor of safety that the building must achieve within its design.... even with a good design a quake with much power can still do alot of damage....

just a FYI from a civil engineer

clairelaine...what part of chieti is your family from?  my dad's family is from ari...

i spoke with him yesterday and he said he had spoken with his sister and they (in ari) were not affected..they heard the quake and maybe felt 'something'....but not affected really.........well..except for my poor lil cuz who was in uni at l'aquila and just got out by the skin of her teeth! thank god!

god bless all who didn't!

this is just awful, the toll just keeps rising...

happy birthday btw

happy birthday btw!!

Original Post by missjaylene13:

I dont know what Italy safety standards are but in the United States each state has a building code that has a specific factor of safety that the building must achieve within its design.... even with a good design a quake with much power can still do alot of damage....

just a FYI from a civil engineer

 The buildings I'm talking about date from the 14th and 15th century.  I don't think they had building inspectors back then.  People still live in them and get a tax advantage if they maintain the outside in historic condition.

edited to add:  The dorm that collapsed was new, so you would think it would have been built better.  I predict a big scandal since Berlusconi made all his millions in construction and real estate.

Original Post by mcaldarone:

clairelaine...what part of chieti is your family from?  my dad's family is from ari...

i spoke with him yesterday and he said he had spoken with his sister and they (in ari) were not affected..they heard the quake and maybe felt 'something'....but not affected really.........well..except for my poor lil cuz who was in uni at l'aquila and just got out by the skin of her teeth! thank god!

god bless all who didn't!

 All four of my grandparents, and all 8 of my great grandparents were from the town of Chieti, in Provencia Chieti.  It's a small town (pop. 56,000) a little to the west of Ari.  You can find both in the list of towns on this page

http://www.abruzzo2000.com/abruzzo/chieti/

edited to add: Somebody from the paternal side must have come from Civitella, because that was their family name.

We finally got some news.  The coastal towns were not affected.  Lots of survivors were sent to the Adriatic coast to live in hotels for free, courtesy of the hotel owners and communities.

My friend is Italian and he said he's 200km from L'Aquila but he said he felt some really small tremors.

Original Post by clairelaine:

We finally got some news.  The coastal towns were not affected.  Lots of survivors were sent to the Adriatic coast to live in hotels for free, courtesy of the hotel owners and communities.

 with a tragedy like this it sure is refreshing to see some good old fashion European hospitality.