The earthquake in Italy happened in a region that is prone to such tremors.
ADVERTISEMENTThe earthquake in Italy happened in a region that is prone to such tremors.
Its epicentre is just 90 kilometres away from where a 2009 quake occured that killed more than 300 people.
“This part of the Appennines is area which for 30 to 40 years has seen a lot of seismic activity with a few earthquakes of this kind, such as the L’Aqulia quake in 2009, which was just as destructive.
The Appennines range is gradually falling apart. This causes deformation and that deformation manifests itself sometimes above ground, in the form of earthquakes,” said Thierry Camelbeeck, a seismologist at the Royal Observatory of Brussels.
The quake measured 6.2 on the richter scale, causing damage to a number of buildings across the region.
“Obviously buildings made from brick or stone that have not been built to resist seismic activity will be very vulnerable to earthquakes,” said Camelbeeck.
The main shock of Tuesday’s earthquake lasted only 10 seconds.