page_title: 2012 Northern Italy earthquakes
section_title: Damage
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Northern Italy earthquakes / Damage
caption_attribution_description: Buonacompra, Casumaro (Ferrara), terremoto 20 maggio 2012
context_page_description: In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage.
  The first earthquake, registering magnitude 6.1, struck in the Emilia-Romagna region, about 36 kilometres north of the city of Bologna, on 20 May at 04:03 local time. The epicentre was between Finale Emilia, Bondeno and Sermide. Two aftershocks of magnitude 5.2 occurred, one approximately an hour after the main event and another approximately eleven hours after the main event. Seven people were killed.
  A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the same area nine days later, on 29 May, causing an additional twenty deaths and widespread damage, particularly to buildings already weakened by the 20 May earthquake. The epicentre was in Medolla: the quake itself occurred at a depth of about 10 kilometres
context_section_description: Initial reports after the 20 May shock listed seven dead, including four workers at a factory in Ferrara, and about 5,000 people left homeless. At least 100 structures of historical significance have been damaged or destroyed. Many churches in towns around the epicentre suffered damage. One of the towers of Castello Estense, a moated medieval structure in the centre of Ferrara, was damaged in the earthquake. Half of a clock tower in Finale Emilia dating from the 13th century (known as the torre dei modenesi) fell down in the mainshock and the remaining part collapsed completely during an aftershock later that day. There was also significant damage to factories and agricultural land in the region.
  Production of Grana Padano and Parmigiano-Reggiano hard cheeses was badly affected; approximately 300,000 wheels, with an estimated value of €200 million, were destroyed.
  Five of the deaths were caused by the collapse of recently constructed factory buildings. Stefano Gresta, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, deemed it "unacceptable that modern constructions such as warehouses and industrial sheds have collapsed in an earthquake which was strong, but not exceptional". The area was not included in seismic hazard maps until 2003, when, after a reassessment, it was classified as "medium risk", with a 10% likelihood of such an earthquake in the next 450 years. A law introduced in 2006 imposed building standards appropriate for the seismic hazard classification, but few of the older buildings have been upgraded to meet these requirements.
  The 29 May magnitude 5.8 earthquake left 18 people dead, more than 350 injured, and more than 15,000 homeless. The 15th-century cathedral of Mirandola, already damaged on 20 May, collapsed after the 29 May shock. The earthquake was felt in most of Northern Italy, triggering evacuation of schools and other buildings. Some buildings in the Modena province and neighbouring areas, already damaged in the first earthquake, collapsed.
  After the main shock of 20 May, inspections were underway to determine which buildings were safe to reenter. The 29 May earthquake occurred during the daytime, when many people were working. As in the mainshock of 20 May, many of the dead in the 29 May earthquake were workers inside huge warehouses and factories. A local union representative has demanded an investigation to determine who was responsible for permitting the companies to resume operations.
  Both the 20 May and 29 May events caused damage to the neighbouring provinces of Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Rovigo and Mantua, where parts of the ducal palace were damaged.
  The earthquake of 3 June was felt throughout Northern Italy, has caused the collapse of the 18th century clock tower in Novi di Modena, already imperiled by the earthquake of recent days.
  The earthquake damage in Emilia "could exceed 4 billion" according to the vice-president of Confindustria Emilia-Romagna, Gaetano Maccaferri, who released these figures in testimony before the Senate Committee on Industry.
caption: The damaged church of Saint Martin of Tours in Cento, Ferrara.
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