L'AQUILA, Italy – A powerful earthquake in mountainous central Italy knocked down whole blocks of buildings early Monday as residents slept, killing at least 50 people and trapping many more, officials said. Tens of thousands were homeless.......Click Here for rest of story.


Eyewitness Accounts

Damn.

Sad news.

Sadly, it appears there will be an increase in fatalities.

I gotta tell you, in spite of sometimes joking about California being on "shakey" ground, and making general wisecracks, it's stories like this that makes me ask "what if?" How totally devastating to lose absolutely everything, including your loved ones & all your possessions. My heart goes out to all the victims.

There simply is no reliable way thus far, to predict an earthquake. While granted, we've thank God, not had a very serious earthquake in my area for the 29 years I've lived in California, BUT all it takes is one BIG one. The sad part is, I doubt anyone is really prepared.


TIS

You are so right TIS. I couldn't even begin to imagine! My goodness. The thought alone........

Terrible news.

Another awful tragedy

I'm curious to know if my fellow Californians (Blib and Saladbar come to mind) are prepared with an earthquake kit, a plan where to "meet" if family is in different areas, and/or any kind of disaster plan? When my kids were home, I worked at a school right by there school and knew I could hopefully easily get to them. We had a plan as to where to go if we all were home (I had a dried up resovior behind me, with no buildings, electrical wires, etc. It was ideal to run to) BUT now it'd be chaotic, and we have no real plan.

Oh, and SB & Blib, don't you find the "stand under the doorway" during the shaking suggestion totally...I don't know...totally wrong? I just don't feel safe, doorway or not, standing anywhere inside where an entire roof can cave in on me. Like one comedian long ago said, when talking about CA earthquakes, "how many times after an earthquake do you see, rubble, rubble, rubble....."doorway"?




TIS

We don't have earthquakes here, TIS, but I posted a week ago on the 30th anniversary of nearby Three Mile Island's meltdown. I stated that in the event of a disaster, you have to go to a designated location, but I didn't know where. I have since found out that it is Shippensburg, PA, about 40 miles south.

I also learned that if the kids are in school at the time, they will be transported there too. Parents are not allowed to pick up at the school as that would cause tie ups and delays. There are numbers that can be called to track your child's whereabouts like a UPS package.

Nobody here gives TMI a second thought though. We have a better chance of an earthquake than another meltdown.

Tragic..

RIP

Klyd,
Since I also live near a nuclear plant, there's an evacuation plan. However, the schools have admitted that there aren't enough buses in the county to get all the kids out, so the plan is fairly useless.

What if the wind is blowing in that direction and you are in the path of the nookuler fallout?

Then I die.

A 98 year old woman was found alive. These tough old broads are from good stock. They're fierce. You can't knock them down.

"One 98-year-old survivor, rescued by firemen in the hamlet of Tempera, 30 hours after quake, impressed Italy with her fortitude.

Maria D'Antuono said in an interview on private Italia Uno TV network, that while she lay in her bed, surrounded by pieces of fallen plaster, she passed the time by crocheting.

When firefighters arrived to help her out of her home, she ate some crackers, and then told her rescuers, "At least let me comb my hair" before she was brought outside."

Gotta love those feisty old ladies.

I wrote to our Lavinia. She is OK, but they felt the quake in Rome, and she says it's all horrible.

Thank you for letting us know, JM. I saw the photos of all the coffins lined up, and it's just heartbreaking.

I totally thought about Lavinia during the first second of hearing about this, so I'm glad to hear she's ok at least...I've been so occupied by personal stuff that I've hardly taken the time to truly contemplate on all of the destruction that's taken place there.

I heard a story about a father who used his hands to dig his daughter out from under the rubble! She was buried for something like 2 days and was finally found alive!

They are reporting that since it's been a week since the earthquake, they've decided to officially call off the search for any more possible survivors.

Heartbreaking and sad.

This is tragic, but everyone in the earthquake zone knew what happens in their area.

Its like buying a house on a flood plain because they are cheaper. Sooner or later nature will give you the flood and its all gone to hell.