An earthquake that completely destroyed Messina, a city in southern Italy, and cities along the coast of the Strait of Messina, such as Reggio Calabria, occurred on December 28, 1908, at 5:20 am. It was Monday. A tsunami of over 10 meters killed around 100,000 people. However, most of the victims were killed not by the tsunami but by the earthquake itself, and more than 90% of the people who died in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were affected by the tsunami. In contrast to that. (Source: Natural Disasters)
I would like to go to Messina someday, but unfortunately I have no plans to go. Today, Messina is a large city in Sicily with a population of over 200,000. (Source: ISTAT) Similarly, Reggio Calabria has a population of about 180,000. It is said that half of the population that lived in Sicily at that time died. (Source: Rai Storia, but the link is invalid)
However, it is not surprisingly known that the victims lived in barracks like slums for over 100 years. It’s definitely a stigma in Italian history, but it’s unknown to many (especially foreigners). I haven’t read an article about the barracks’ living environment yet, but it says that thousands of people were forced to live there when the barracks were destroyed. (Source: See below)From 1908 to the present, Italy has experienced several devastating earthquakes. These include the 1915 Avezzano earthquake, the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, and the 2016 Amatrice earthquake. Abruzzo is a city in Abruzzo, not far from L’Aquila, where I was studying abroad. The L’Aquila also suffered an earthquake in 2009, but I will not write about it this time. Irpinia is the name of the area at that time and is located near Naples. Amatrice is located in the province of Rieti, Lazio, but was part of Abruzzo in the olden days. As a result, Amatrice’s culture, history and dialects have much in common with those of Abruzzo. But the fact that the victims of the disaster, which occurred long before those disasters, were left behind in the shadow of the two World Wars and the subsequent development of the country was too shocking and too shocking. It hurts my chest.
However, the existence of victims who have been abandoned by both the country and society is not limited to the Messina earthquake. In fact, the victims of the earthquake, especially in Amatrice, said, “The country said it wouldn’t leave us alone, but the news from the country was just a tax reminder.” “I lost my house, but the government helped. I have no choice but to rebuild with my own money and my own power because it doesn’t help me. “” There is no job in a city where reconstruction is not progressing, and especially young people have no choice but to move to cities such as Rome and Milan. “There were a lot of beautiful buildings and plazas in the city center, but now it’s an off-limits area, and it’s very painful to see it.” After all, I had to move to my relatives’ house, “he told us. I mentioned temporary housing, but even if you can move into temporary housing, the living environment is extremely poor. Regarding that, I will write an article again.
When the state of Amatrice immediately after the earthquake was released to the media, foreigners said, “This cannot happen in the developed country of Italy. This must be a picture of Syria being bombed.” “This image is a fake. It may be a picture of another country, “but unfortunately it happened and such a scene is still seen in many affected areas of Italy.
They lived and died in places where humans would not be treated as humans, deprived of all their dignity, rights and pride as humans.
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Reading your article has greatly helped me, and I agree with you. But I still have some questions. Can you help me? I will pay attention to your answer. thank you.