Italy court blames quake victims for own deaths: reports

An Italian court has ruled some of the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake were partly to blame for their own deaths and compensation for their relatives should be reduced, media reports said Wednesday.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on April 6 at 3:32 am, after months of tremors across the rugged Abruzzo region in central Italy. Houses collapsed throughout L'Aquila's historic centre, killing 309 people.

The judge in a civil suit for millions of euros in damages, presented by relatives of 24 people who died in one of the buildings, said the victims had gone back to bed despite two tremors earlier in the night.

That "rash behaviour" made them "30 percent responsible" for their deaths, she said, according to the Messaggero daily.

Maria Grazia Piccinini, a lawyer and the mother of Ilaria Rambaldi, a 25-year-old student who died, said the ruling on Tuesday was "absurd" considering experts had played down fears of a killer quake.

"My daughter was reassured, just like everyone else," Piccinini told the Corriere della Sera, adding that they would be appealing the ruling.

Seven members of Italy's Major Risks Prevention Commission were initially convicted over advice given to residents before the disaster, though all but one of those would later be overturned.

The quake, which reduced L'Aquila's elegant medieval, Renaissance and Baroque squares and buildings to rubble, left 1,600 people injured and at least 80,000 people homeless.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

5.0-magnitude quake hits central Greece
Athens (AFP) Oct 8, 2022
A 5.0-magnitude undersea earthquake early Sunday struck central Greece with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The National Observatory of Athens said the tremor hit at 1:02 am local time (2202 GMT) at a depth of 12.7 kilometres (8 miles) in the Gulf of Corinth, about 100 kilometres west-northwest of Athens. The tremor was felt in the Greek capital but also in the Peloponnese region. Greece is highly susceptible to earthquakes, being situated on several geological fault lines. ... read more