The earthquake that rocked Italy last Monday is yet another clear example of how fragile life can be, and how it could change from one moment to another. We were all shocked by the tsunami that hit Asia in 2004 and the earthquake that killed hundreds in China last year, but when such disasters occur closer to home, their effect on us is greater.
For one thing, there were many Maltese who were in the Abruzzo region on the night that the earthquake struck last Monday, including 35 young football players on a training camp during their Easter holidays. There were also a number of Maltese who live there – and, when such things happen, it always amazing to find out that a small country such as ours has citizens in almost every corner of the world.
Over 220 people died as buildings collapsed in the heart of the night; others are still missing while over 100,000 became homeless overnight. The Italian authorities are doing the best that they could, in the circumstances, to give shelter to the people who lost everything, but nothing will replace what they had. And their lives will never be the same again.
Italy has a history of earthquakes, and unfortunately many of them have been devastating. And although the country is well-prepared to face the challenges that such catastrophes bring about, one is never prepared enough when they hit.
Yet, the sadness of it all is that people went to sleep with peace of mind and woke up to find that the world had collapsed around them. Yes, the world, because one’s family, one’s residence and one’s possessions are the world for most people. And all was swept away in a few seconds.
Some people escaped unscathed, but they will carry the emotional scars of what happened on that night for the rest of their lives. They know that they will not be able to return to the life they had before, and this is already a trauma. Having to relocate and start afresh is devastating enough.
The Italian government, through Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has pledged all the support it can give to the victims of the earthquake. The Premier said that nobody will be left on his own, but this is easier said than done. Everyone will feel that his or her predicament is worse than that of the rest, and will expect that his or her needs will be seen to first.
No doubt, Italy is facing a tough challenge. At a time when the country, like the rest of the world, is passing through economic difficulties, the earthquake has added extra pressure on the government. A state of emergency was declared and federal funds were freed to deal with the situation.
Several countries have expressed their sorrow and pledged their moral and physical support to Italy right after the event. But this solidarity is not enough to comfort all those who have lost a relative or ended up without a roof on their heads.
All that happened in the L’Aquila region could happen to us. The Mediterranean is an area that is susceptible to such phenomena, and with Malta at the centre, there is always a risk that we could be the next victims.
One hopes that the Maltese authorities are prepared for the eventuality of an earthquake, as they said we are in a press conference held yesterday. An exercise was recently carried out at White Rocks on what was a “mock disaster”, but we must all realise that reality, when it strikes, will be different.