Earthquakes in Central Italy in 2016: Comparison between Norcia and Amatrice

Abstract

In this paper lessons are extracted from the comparison between the very different consequences that a set of earthquakes had on the neighbouring towns of Amatrice and Norcia during the 2016 central Italy earthquake sequence. The paper initially describes the prevention programs implemented in Amatrice and Norcia starting from the reconstruction after the 1860 Norcia earthquake. The earthquake intensities in Amatrice and Norcia during the 2016 Central Italy events were considering accelerometric recordings of the Italian Strong Motion Network. In the same municipalities, the damage has been assessed through site visits and analysis of the results of the post-earthquake safety assessment performed after the events. It was found that the differences in damage were essentially due to the strengthening of most houses in Norcia done during the previous decades. This is also likely to lead to a much faster recover of the economy and livelihood in Norcia, as Amatrice needs to be entirely rebuilt.