The L'Aquila Earthquake of 6 April 2009 and Italian Government Policy on Disaster Response

Abstract

This paper describes the impact of the earthquake that struck the central Italian city of L'Aquila on 6 April 2009, killing 308 people and leaving 67 500 homeless. The pre-impact, emergency, and early recovery phases are discussed in terms of the nature and effectiveness of government policy. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Italy is evaluated in relation to the structure of civil protection and changes wrought by both the L'Aquila disaster and public scandals connected with the misappropriation of funds. Six of the most important lessons are derived from this analysis and related to DRR needs both in Italy and elsewhere in the world.

Fuzzy Boundaries Between Post-Disaster Phases: The Case of L’Aquila, Italy

“…During the relief phase the priority is to save the lives of people through the deployment of searchand-rescue (SAR) task forces (Kates and Pijawka 1977;Alexander 2006). It is critical to include a building damage survey (Contreras 2009) to determine the level of damage, and badly damaged buildings need to be evacuated and demolished (Brown et al 2010).…”

“…The early recovery phase aims to return the community to normal life by completing the removal of debris, the rehabilitation of roads, and the demolition of damaged buildings (Brown et al 2010;Alexander 2006) and starting the removal of temporary shelters. The reconstruction and/ or repair of buildings, roads, and bridges should start during this phase (Alexander 2006), and any pre-impact recovery plan should be implemented or, in the absence of a preexisting plan, a new recovery plan formulated.…”

“…The reconstruction and/ or repair of buildings, roads, and bridges should start during this phase (Alexander 2006), and any pre-impact recovery plan should be implemented or, in the absence of a preexisting plan, a new recovery plan formulated. The restoration of essential services should be completed.…”

“…Secondary impacts due to the earthquake (for example, landslides or fires) need to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Essential services need to be restored and the rehabilitation of roads (Alexander 2006) and the environment needs to be set in progress (Brown et al 2010;Alexander 2006).…”

“…The historical city was badly damaged, 67,500 people were left homeless (Alexander 2010), 1500 people were injured (202 seriously), and 308 people lost their lives. About 10,000 buildings were damaged, and between 1.5 and 3 million tons of waste were generated (Brown et al 2011).…”