L’Aquila marks 12 years since devastating earthquake
Italy on Tuesday marked the 12th anniversary of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that devastated the city of L’Aquila in the early hours of April 6, 2009, killing 309 people, leaving 70,000 homeless and destroying more than 50 villages in the central Abruzzo region.
A beam of blue light points towards the sky to remember the victims of the April 6, 2009, earthquake in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, on April 5, 2021. (Photo: AAP)
A beam of blue light points towards the sky to remember the victims of the April 6, 2009, earthquake in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, on April 5, 2021. (Photo: AAP)
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, residents of L’Aquila were unable to gather together for the traditional torchlit procession through the city’s streets.
Instead, a huge blue beam of light was projected into the sky from an almost deserted Piazza Duomo, and the church bells rang out 309 times, once for each victim left buried under the rubble.
Locals also placed candles outside their houses to commemorate the tragedy.
Works to reconstruct buildings in L’Aquila are still underway, 12 years after the city was devastated by the deadly earthquake.
With ANSA
