There are those who spent the night in the car, while those who decided to return by car after a few hours. It was a night of fear in Catanzaro. Just before one o’clock, at 00.44 the seismographs say, a quake with a magnitude of between 4.2 and 4.7 and an epicenter right in front of the Catanzaro coast made the city and the province tremble. As far as is known, it did not cause any serious damage or collapse, but within minutes the streets were filled with terrified people.
It all started with a dull roar “as if it came from underground” is told on social media, then the earth began to shake. A long jolt that pulled out of bed those who had already gone to sleep and in those seconds terrified those who were awake. Catanzaro is not an earthquake area. Unlike other territories of Calabria, such as Reggio used to seismic “gymnastics” also due to the proximity of Etna and Aeolian Islands, the earthquake surprised many.
“Never in 46 years felt the earthquake so strong. I woke up with the bed that was moving, what a bad feeling the floor was shaking ”, comments a woman from Catanzaro on social media. And down a shower of confirmations, including those of those who a few minutes later wrote from the car swearing: “I won’t sleep at home tonight”. And someone, bitterly stressed “After the sentence on the L’Aquila earthquake, sleeping can be a fault”
“By heart, it is the strongest you remember”, confirms the mayor Nicola Fiorita, already in the Municipality to coordinate the structural checks on public buildings, starting with the schools that will remain closed this morning. “We inherit a building patrimony in many cases old, for prudence we have decided to leave the students at home and proceed with scrupulous checks”.
In the night, shortly after the quake, Fiorita on social media sent a message to reassure the population. “The fear was obviously great but I want to reassure the whole city. Local police, firefighters, civil protection and administration are on high alert and are monitoring the situation. Good night to whoever will be able to sleep ”she wrote a few minutes after the shock. Around three o’clock, in a second post you announced that you had signed an urgent order to close schools. The teams are already at work and by mid-day you should have a clear picture of the situation.
Yesterday in Messina a simulation of an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Ritcher scale and the subsequent tsunami wave was organized. The “Messina Risk Sis.Ma. 2022 ”, now in its 11th edition, this year is part of the National Civil Protection Week promoted by the Civil Protection Department. In a “dancing” territory like the Strait, it happens frequently. “At the beginning of November – announced yesterday the head of the national civil protection department, Fabrizio Curcio – we will carry out an important exercise on the Strait of Messina for the seismic procedures of Calabria and Sicily, but also for all the regions that want to improve their systems “.