A 6.0 magnitude earthquake recently hit the north-central part of Italy which caused the death of at least 6 people and injured at least 50 individuals. The earthquake also caused the collapse of numerous historical architecture sites like castles, clock towers, and churches.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake registered around the area of Modena and Ferrara in the Emilia Romagna region. The epicenter of the earthquake was pinpointed in the Padania Plains, an area in Italy which was not identified before as a potentially dangerous area. The earthquake was felt across the north part of Italy including Milan and Venice. Initially, most people felt a slight tremor first before the fatal earthquake hit immediately after the first tremor was felt around 4 a.m. Four of the victims were working night shift in factories around Ferrara area while the other two victims died due to fright-related causes as opposed to injuries caused by the earthquake.

According to Italian officials, the main priority now is finding safe accommodation for at least 30,000 people who were affected by the earthquake. Tents are already being placed as a temporary shelter for the victims. Most people in the shelters saw their homes destroyed by the earthquake while some people are just afraid to return to their homes due to a possible threat of another earthquake. Diego Gottarelli, the coordinator for the shelter described the situation as "tense but not dramatic". He also added that "people are obviously afraid of staying inside their homes so we are setting up these emergency camps to let them spend the night and maybe some days in a safe environment, until these earthquakes finally stop. We are trying to make the citizens feel safe."

Another problem caused by the earthquake is the damage to historical buildings such as castles and churches. One of the badly hit towns, San Felice sul Panaro revealed that several towers of the 14th-century castles were destroyed. Mayor Alberto Silvestri remarked that they have "practically lost all our artistic patrimony". Other sites that were damaged by the earthquake include the historic Palazzo dei Veneziani which partly collapsed as well as the clock tower in Castello delle Rocche. The Italian cultural ministry released a statement towards the damage stating that "After an initial survey, damage to cultural patrimony appears significant."

The recent earthquake was the worst earthquake to hit Italy to date since the L'Aquila tremor in 2009 which caused the death of at least 300 people.

Click "START" to view the photos of earthquake damage in Italy.

Earthquake Architecture