An earthquake in Umbria

Another side to today (Wednesday 24 August) is the sad news that an earthquake over night has killed 159 people and left large numbers either homeless or with severe damage to their towns. This 6.2 magnitude earthquake centred on Norcia has caused severe damage to four villages but was felt as far away as Naples and Bologna. We are only about 90 kms direct line from Norcia and it was felt here in Panicale and Macchie.

I was woken during the night by a lot of movement and blamed Kelly, he later blamed me for tossing around. At 3.45 I got up and shut the outside door because I felt unaccountably uncomfortable.

This morning we discovered that an earthquake had rocked Umbria at 3.36am and that locals had run out of their houses as they knew what was happening. Being unaware of these things we learned about it from our many friends enquiring after us on Facebook, email and Skype. Thank you all for caring about our safety.

The loss of lives is very sad, as is the loss of communities. We have noticed that after previous earthquakes these ancient towns are often not repaired or able to be repaired.
Relocation must be a very unhappy option for many. 

Thursday:

Sadly the the death toll has risen, possibly as high as 237.

Tonight's music in the piazza, the last for the season, is to be a fundraiser for the village and people of Amatrice. I have often mentioned that Panicale is a designated Most Beautiful Village in Italy, and apparently Amatrice also had this designation. As an article on the web said, in two minutes it was all gone. Also of interest, amatriciana pasta sauce gets its name from the village of Amatrice and this coming week-end was to be their amatriciana festival.

From this morning's Corriere del Umbria - Earthquake deaths and damage fundraiser.

As always in tragic situations like this we see the good side of humanity. Rescue workers, blood donors, fundraising events, donations by nations, groups and individuals.