After the Quake: some Reflection

This date marks a turning point for Italy, as the country experienced one of the most severe tragedies of contemporary times, despite other events of similar gravity occurring since 1861. This was the first to generate collective outrage. Even the President of the Republic at the time expressed his candid and direct thoughts.

The words of Sandro Pertini, then President of the Republic, still resonate today: “There should have been immediate rescues, but there were not. Under the rubble, cries, screams, and the despair of the buried alive can still be heard.”

His words served as a warning and a lesson for a country that, until that moment, despite facing significant seismic events, seemed unprepared and found itself in a likely situation of structural vulnerability.

In this situation, Italy found the strength to react through the appointment of a Government Commissioner for the coordination of civil protection and rescue efforts. However, it emerged that the country was not yet fully aware of the importance of the themes of prevention and resilience.

Italy had laws, but not the implementing decrees!

Nevertheless, 1980 demonstrated Italy’s ability to mobilize to face the emergency, as aid poured in from all parts of the country and from abroad. But have we truly committed to learning from past events, or have we merely reacted instinctively, without proactively addressing territorial management? Are we still stuck in the various parliamentary commissions of that dramatic historical moment, or have we learned that the culture of prevention must be part of our education?

The relationship between humans and nature, and human responsibility in the prevention of natural disasters, remain unresolved issues. However, the culture of prevention is gradually gaining ground, replacing the reactive mentality of “it can’t happen again” with more responsible behaviors by individuals and communities.

A community that, outraged during those days of suffering, wrote a warning for all and for future generations.

After over 40 years since that November 23^rd, from that still-open wound in those who know those territories, in those who still occupy the “temporary” homes, there is still much work to be done in a country like Italy, where 70% of seismic activity is located in the Apennines.

Italy has been struck multiple times, like on September 26^th, 1997, at 11:40 AM, when another earthquake, with a depth of 98 km, shook the country, causing deaths (11), injuries (100,000), and displacements (80,000) [2].