Italy is at risk for earthquakes and small tsunamis along its coasts yet it will never face a similar powerful temblor as the one that occurred in Japan, a seismology expert said Wednesday.
"What happened in Japan is a highly intensive earthquake that takes place only in open fields, at the intersection of large earth plates that collide and slide each other that usually occurs in the oceans. That is not the case of Italy even though it lies on the border of a tectonic plate," Antonio Piersanti, director of the seismology section of the National Geophysics Institute, told Xinhua in an interview.
On Friday, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coastal areas of northeastern and eastern Japan, triggering an enormous tsunami that severely damaged area nuclear power plants. Heavy casualties and extensive damage have been caused in the disaster.
Recalling the central Italian city of L' Aquila' s earthquake in 2009, which left 300 dead and the city entirely destroyed, Piersanti said that Italy had a long history of natural disasters but the possibility of experiencing Japan's drama would be "pure science-fiction."
"In order to have a similar earthquake in Italy as the one that struck Japan, there must be a detachment of an entire earth's crust piece with an area from Rome to Milan, which is unimaginable," he said.
"Italy is a small country with a limited land areas compared to regions like oceanic Asia, where earthquakes' shocks and tsunamis have shorter distances for unfolding and increasing in intensity," Piersanti said.
Still, he said, Italy is not immune to an elevated seismic risk.
"Italy records nearly 10 to 20 shocks every day and will continue to do so with an increasing danger to houses and infrastructures. Along with Greece, it stands as the European country most exposed to seismic activity and volcanoes eruption," Piersanti said.
Meanwhile, small-scale tsunamis have occurred in the past and will repeat if a quake strikes the peninsula, the expert said.
Because the Mediterranean is a closed, protected sea, a tsunami would be considerably reduced in intensity compared to the Japanese one but would also cause incredible damage.
"In 1908 a terrible quake wiped out the Sicilian town of Messina, leaving about 100,000 victims on the ground especially due to the disastrous effects of the seaquake. It was probably the most catastrophic event for Italy," he said.
Yet what the peninsula has learned from its past natural disasters is another issue. Piersanti said a lot still has to be done to reinforce the country's buildings from seismic risk.
"Italy is very efficient in monitoring natural events and in dealing with the rescue operations by its civil protection unit, but not when it comes to prevention and house building quality," he said.
There are construction rules in Italy that make it compulsory for houses to be built with anti-seismic criteria by local standards as in Japan. The trouble is that such rules are not respected in many cases, Piersanti said.
According to a recent report by an Italian Environmental Lobby Legambiente, about 3.5 million Italians live and work in areas at risk of natural disasters, especially mudslides and floods, mainly due to irregular building permits and fast-track construction.
It is the same for the emergent evacuation plans for natural disasters: their implementation solely depends upon local authorities, Piersanti said.
He said that his institute constantly monitors all seismic activity in Italy and informs the civil protection unit, responsible for sending alerts to cities and regions.
"Every City Hall should have an evacuation plan for its people but unfortunately this is not always the case," Piersanti said, adding that scientific instruments are still not able to predict an earthquake or a tsunami.