We've moved from Baltimore, Maryland USA to Venice, Italy in pursuit of living our dream!



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Earthquake #2

About 9am this morning, a second earthquake magnitude of 5.8 shook all of Venice.  Once again, Modena was the epicenter.  This time, we were left with a few reminders- a statue in the garden near Piazzale Roma fell to the ground and shattered.  (photo courtesy of Comune di Venezia)

In the photo, you can see the statue on the left side of the gate still intact. It's twin, on the right side, is no more.

In our apartment, some cracks in the walls are much more pronounced after this earthquake, and some paint fell from the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. Nothing major, but  at the same time, it's a reminder that we were lucky- this time. There were two more aftershocks later in the day, both almost as strong as the first tremors. 15 people are reported dead.  

I have to say that the first time we felt the apartment moving up and down under our feet we were thinking "Wow, this is a first for us. Pretty cool."   After this second event and several aftershocks,  we're not so cavalier.  We've thought about our escape route very carefully and are much more prepared. I'm not thinking "Oh, it will never happen to us here" anymore.

As I finish writing this blog, I'm hoping for an earthquake-less night in Italy. 

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

How long did the tremors last? I have planned a trip to Venice in a few weeks' time but starting to have second thoughts!

Anonymous said...

Hi, thanks for the imfo.
Do you know the name of the garden-
and also do you have a photo of the statue before it fell ?

Andrew said...

Oh Karen. Our thoughts are with all of you over there. Keep safe.

Rob C said...

You both take care now, yes?

Looking forward to seeing you both in December.

Rob

karen said...

The name of the garden is Papadopoli, near the entrance to Piazzale Roma. I don't know the name of the statue.

-Karen

karen said...

Rob,

Have you found an apartment for December yet?

We're all ok here. No damage from the last quake, just some paint chips fallen from the ceiling. We're on constant alert for more now :) It doesn't change my Venice obsession on bit!

Happy Jubilee weekend in England :)

Karen

Dianne said...

Do you know where the fault runs through? I remember the one in L'Aquila a couple of years back -- really scary. Wonder if it is the same fault. Is Venice on a fault line? Certainly hope not as I love the old place and tremble thinking of all those wonderful palazzos and other buildings being damaged. We saw pictures of the first quake. It was very scary seeing half of a clock tower still standing (the clock split right down the middle) and the rest in ruins. Take care of yourselves.

Rob C said...

Thanks,

It should be an 'interesting' weekend I think!

We've snagged an apartment that's more central, it's near the Coin dept store, so right in the heart of everything!

Rob