Oh what a night !

First topic message reminder :

Woken at 3.35'ish the house shaking and lumps of plaster and tiles falling off the wall.  Doggie having a nervous breakdown so we all hid in the car.  Many aftershocks happening, hope they stop soon.  Very scary.  Hope you are all ok.....

Angie, the Comune's advice is just plain common sense under the circumstances, but let's hope and pray that there will be no more problems. I also hope that your husband's health will soon improve. I know how hard it is, even when we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Forza!!!

Thx Gala, OH a little brighter today, and yes, of course the Comune only saying what is right and safe, they have been visiting people in the old town assessing earthquake damage, not seen them here....we are a good 2ks away from the town so a bit of a trek.

An update on  possible things to come.....Apparently the old fault line in the mountains, here in central Italy, has caused movement - experts are now saying it will be a month before they feel confident that it will not happen again.  Now where is the diazepan !

Angie, I am not sure about the level of expertise of the so called "experts". If that was the case, they would be able to predict earthquakes and the legal case mounted around responsibilities regarding warnings for the Aquila earthquake was dismissed on appeal... It is not a secret that many areas in Italy sit on a crisscross of fault lines. So they can elaborate all sorts of theories, which, in turn, give journalists plenty to write about. So leave the diazepam aside, take a deep breath, have a good glass of wine and try to go back to normal life. And I am keeping you in my prayers, but mainly to ask God for a bit of peace of mind for you and OH. I don't think that God has much to do with when and where earthquakes happen... Although insurance tends to call them "acts of God". Someone has to get the blame....

ooh Gala !! What other 'experts' can one go to?! Everyone is an 'expert' at something (or so they think !).

I'd listen to the local 'experts' first, then move onwards from there seeking other 'expert' advice as you feel fit !

V

V, in this particular field, I would call them "observers" rather than experts. They always come up with plenty of information about what happened... After the earthquake has taken place. They cannot predict even the after shakes.i guess that a crystal ball would be as accurate.
I would rather observe the conduct of animals. They are better at predicting nature's events.

Interesting that Wikipedia says that experts '........do not always agree on the particulars of a field of study'.

IMHO experts know more about something than Joe Public - but certainly don't know everything.

Well, Ghiro, my point is: How many times have we had the benefit of an early and accurate prediction of an earthquake, a tsunami, or similar events? Oh, yes, in the aftermath we always get plenty of "expert" warnings and advice....

I totally agree with the 'after the event' expert comment as well as the behaviour of animals, I think that what I was thinking was more along the 'if you can't seek the view of the comune' (experts), where on earth do you go as a first starting point.

It is these people who would declare that one's house could be a 'do not enter' zone.

I totally agree on the Comune's expertise in the aftermath. Only the structural engineers or building professionals can ascertain the safety of a building after an earthquake. Although, to be fair, we should remember that in Amatrice quite a few building, including the school, were renovated, at great cost, to make them comply with the new seismic standards... And they were amongst the first to collapse. I do hope that all buildings in the same situation, throughout Italy, will be thoroughly inspected again. We do not want more tragedies!

GP, Crikey !!!

 'to make them comply with the new seismic standards... And they were amongst the first to collapse'

I did not know that !! I suspect there will be some questions asked !

Very worrying, indeed! http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f1b3768a-6e94-11e6-a0c9-1365ce54b926.html?siteedition=intl#axzz4JC3YyVAr

Hopefully it has calmed down a bit now here. Am beginning to feel like a 007 vodka martini, from being shaken but not stirred!!
Quite a few blue tents around here, so hope things return to a more normal situation soon.

Let's hope that the nightmare is over. Thoughts and prayers are still with you.

We had a 3.4 here this morning, it is still rumbling !!

More pretty heavy quakes going on this evening. Hope all are safe.

Geotherm wrote:More pretty heavy quakes going on this evening. Hope all are safe.

Hope you are okay, Geo.  We have a friend in Monte Rinaldo who was told to sleep in his car last night and another couple in Petritoli who felt the shaking and had an overnight bag parked, just in case.

AWFUL stuff, keep your escape route clear and be prepared !

Keep safe,

V

Yes Geo and V, it has been very bad here. The 2nd and biggest quake was horrid....bag packed beside door, full of emergency stuff, meds, dog food, toilet roll. passports etc.  Another one predicted so need to be prepared...More houses locally down or parts of...please stop !!!

Really feel for you guys over there, it must be a hugely nerve racking time. Hope you all stay safe and this madness stops soon. 

Stay safe, and I hope it stops soon, I can't imagine what you are going through, it must be terrifying?

Just had a big shake up here - more scarier than usual and I was in the shower!! Hope everyone is ok!

Looks pretty awful - live reporting

https://www.rt.com/news/364721-italy-central-quake-damage/

Thanks alan h et al !! let me give you some other live-ish news ..........the car was actually bouncing up and down for what seemed like a minute or two. This was after we had got outside !!

Plan Z is to go back to the UK and give up on our wonderful life here, so we are a long way off that, I think it'll be the car tonight though.

V

Yes V, friends were in their car and suddenly felt the tyres bouncing up and down off the road too, scary stuff.  We had just the one thud and a shake here last night so an improvement.  Now going to re-stack the fallen wood stack (due to the quake) and check on the state of the house again !