Disaster stuck Italy last Wednesday when 4 to 10 earthquakes, all level 5 magnitude, rocked the snowbound mountain areas where many citizens lived. These all happened in only 4 hours, causing around 130,000 houses to go without power. Many families had or were close to having hypothermia, and some were found too late to save and perished in the cold night.

The earthquakes were so devastating that even the people in Rome, which was 100 km (60miles), away could feel the tremors. Italy seems to be ground zero for earthquakes this year, seeing as 300 people perished last august from an earthquake. The last earthquake that hit Italy in the 2016 year was a staggering 6.9 magnitude. That’s the same magnitude that struck close to Naples back in 1980 and killed 3,000 people.

Italy is a country bordered by water and only connected to land by its top most part. This fact, combined with the shift of tectonic plates, causes Italy to be a red zone for earthquakes and resulting tsunamis. The earthquakes that hit last Wednesday hit the town of Amatrice and Montreal. The mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, made the following comment: “I don’t know if we did something bad. That’s what I have been asking since yesterday. We have got up to two meters of snow and now another earthquake!” Seeing as Italy rubs up against the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, it’s not that surprising how bad Italy’s chances are with seismic disturbances and any other disasters that follow the disturbances. Hopefully Italy will soon be back to normal and those who lost loved ones and family members have had time to mourn their losses. Hopefully this disaster has brought the Italian people closer to one another in their time of need and pain.