AS USUAL after a disaster, the photographs published in the media of those who perished in the earthquake that struck central Italy on August 24th are incongruously joyful. A couple smile radiantly at the camera, unaware that one day they will be found locked in each other’s arms, dead beneath tons of rubble. A young flautist hugs a puppy. An official who, ironically, devoted her working life to earthquake disaster relief walks barefoot by the sea. The hardest-hit towns—Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto, all in an area north-east of Rome—had a combined population of under 5,000. Yet two days after the earthquake the provisional death toll stood at an improbably high 268. Italians are beginning to ask why.
Part of the answer is that the picturesque mountain area was crammed with summer visitors. Italian city-dwellers with relatives who live by the sea or in the mountains often spend their holidays there, especially if they are short of cash. Others had second homes in the area. Some had come to Amatrice, the biggest of the towns (and known for its famous spaghetti all’Amatriciana), for an annual gastronomic festival.
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