Devastating earthquake in Italy, which occurred on May 20, 2012 in northern part of the country in the Emilia-Romagna region, killed at least seven people. Dozens of people are now in hospitals.
Earthquake in Italy reached 6 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was located 36 kilometers north of Bologna and 5 kilometers west of San Felice sul Panaro. Seismologists recorded in total 24 aftershocks. About 6 thousand people were evacuated due to the earthquake.
The scale of destruction has not yet been assessed. However, it can already be said that Italy has lost a number of unique monuments. Currently among destroyed or partially destroyed monuments are buildings in the historic center of Ferrara included into the UNESCO World Heritage List, Lambertini castle in the town of Poggio Renatico, the Cathedral and the medieval tower in Finale Emilia.
The greatest destructions were recorded in the city of Bologna. The factory, which manufactured ceramic tiles, was completely destroyed. On the farm located to north of Bologna were destroyed storages of the famous Parmesan cheese. According to the farmers, at least 10% of the annual cheese production in the region was lost. Bologna is one of the main producers of Parmesan cheese in Italy. Every year income from cheese sales are accounted for 2 billion Euros. Because of heavy destruction was stopped Titan International plant in Finale Emilia.
Maranello, a city known as a base for team Ferrari, was also in the earthquake area. However, the press service of the team has already reported that the base was not damaged.
Vatican has already announced the campaign on collecting funds to help the earthquake victims. The Roman Church will accept donations in churches across the country. The Italian government will allocate 50 million Euros on fighting the earthquake consequences.
Ilya Kalachev
Date: 26/05/2012
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