Earth and World

Castles of Sand

挪亚方舟 (Noah’s Ark)

A drone view shows roads submerged in floodwaters following heavy rainfall, in 清远 (Qīngyuǎn), 广东省 (Guǎngdōng province), China. Photo: 王廷樞 (Wáng Tíngshū)/Reuters.

Underground thunderstorm

Norcia, Italy: Firefighters and emergency workers carry a woman on a wheelchair after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake. Photo: Fabrizio Troccoli/AFP/Getty Images.

It’s like being in the autumn on the trees the leaves

Visso, Italy: A view of the inside of the Church of Saint Anthony after a 5.9-magnitute earthquake destroyed parts of the town. Photo: Alessandra Tarantino/AP.

Sixteen Days

In a remarkable tale of survival, a cat has been rescued from under the rubble of Italy’s earthquake zone after being trapped for 16 days. The cat, named Pietro, is thought to have survived on drops of rainwater – the area hit by the quake last month has seen several storms in the past few days. Firefighters were excavating the remains of a collapsed house in the hill-top town of Amatrice, one of the communities worst hit by the August 24 quake, when they heard faint mews coming from under the rubble. They carefully lifted out the cat, which was severely dehydrated. Firefighters immediately gave it a drink of water and then dispatched the animal to a vet’s surgery in the nearby town of Rieti. “It’s really true that cats have nine lives, look at that”, said one of the firefighters at the scene. [Read more].

• Nick Squires, Pet cat named Pietro rescued in Italy’s quake zone after 16 days trapped under rubble, The Telegraph, September 9, 2016

Mission Impossible... Accomplished!
Photo: guidominciotti.blog.ilsole24ore.com

They Were

State funeral for 38 victims in Amatrice, Italy. Of the 292 confirmed dead in the earthquake, 231 were found there. Photo: Matteo Ciambelli/Sipa Press/Rex/Shutterstock.

We (like everyone else) can suddenly become refugees

Arquata del Tronto, Italy: A child plays at a temporary shelter for the earthquake survivors. Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP.

One World (Not Three)

• Jacopo Storni, Firenze, il viaggio dei cinesi ad Amatrice: “Cinque furgoni di aiuti per i nostri fratelli sfollati” | Florence, Chinese-Italian community going to Amatrice: “Five vans with aid for ours homeless brothers”, Corriere della Sera, June 28, 2016

“Let’s go to Amatrice”. The idea came to Francesco Xia e Luca Zheng, representatives of the Chinese-Florentine community in Osmannoro, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy. They thought about it no more than ten minutes, and then decided it was time to give a strong signal of belonging to their second country. In less than four hours they made everything. They bought emergency aid goods at wholesale shopping centres, visited almost any factory in Campi Bisenzio and Osmannoro in order to pick up a load of mattresses and blankets, and finally rented five vans. “Five vans with emergency aid for our homeless Italian brothers”, they said. “We want to give a message of solidarity, dialogue, and integration”. At the dawn of Saturday, they symbolically left to Amatrice from Piazzale Marconi in Osmannoro, where, last July, clashes had arisen between Chinese workers and Italian law enforcement officials during routine inspections of industrial factories in the productive area.

“Unity makes strength and creates solidarity regardless of skin color, culture and origin”. Screengrab from the CORRIERETV’s video.

Amatriciana

Amatrice, Italy: Volunteers prepare the pasta dish amatriciana at a camp. Photo: Ciro de Luca/Reuters.

Stargate Atlantis

Amatrice, Italy: The devastation caused to the historic town by the magnitude 6.2 earthquake is clearly visible from the air. The quake claimed the lives of more than 290 people. Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP.

A Masonry with a View

Pescara del Tronto, Italy: The front door and the surrounding masonry is all that remains of a collapsed house following an earthquake in central Italy. Photo: Max Rossi/Reuter.

In everyone’s hands

Thousands have come to help in Amatrice, from all over Italy and across Europe. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images.

Firefighters and other rescuers work carefully, digging by hand. Photo: Ciro de Luca/Reuters.

Exhausted rescuers down tools and try to get some sleep. Photo: Awakening/Getty Images.

The Day of the Jackal

Porterebbero via i’ffumo alle candele. Proverbio fiorentino They’d steal smoke from a candle. Florentine proverb

Five-Star Suite

People keep warm under blankets after the earthquake in Amatrice, Italy. Photo: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters.

The Wolf of Wall Street

A dog inspects a collapsed building during a search and rescue operation in Amatrice, Italy. Photo: Massimo Percossi/EPA.

The Story of a Town Where Time Stopped

The 13th-century bell tower in Amatrice, Italy, stuck at 3,39. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Amatrice, Italy: A woman is rescued from rubble after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy at 03,36 (01,36 GMT). Photo: Massimo Percossi/AP.

Falling Skies

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 291 people dead and many others trapped under rubble. The quake hit at 03,36 (01,36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome.

Damaged houses in Arquata del Tronto
Photo: Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images