A region not expecting an earthquake is devastated by two

The New York Times reported (“Quakes Deal Irreparable Blow to an Italian Region’s Cultural Heritage”, by Elisabetta Povoledo, June 3, 2012) that the two major earthquakes which struck the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in May 2012 left most of its historic buildings and many modern structures in ruins. While teams of art historians, restorers, archaeologists, engineers and firefighters have been examining buildings and charting the extent of the damage, there are not enough experts to handle the work load. As the last major earthquake to strike the region occurred in 1570, for hundreds of years earthquake resistance was not a factor that was considered in building design. Not long after the 1570 quake, a treatise on how to build earthquake resistant buildings was written by Pietro Ligorio. How sad and costly for the monuments of Emilia-Romagna that Ligorio’s recommendations were not followed.