Strongest earthquake in 30 years hits central Italy

The strongest earthquake in over 30 years struck Italy on Sunday October 30, severely damaging the town of Norcia, 90 kilometres north of Rome.

The magnitude (M) 6.6 earthquake was then followed by seven earthquakes of M4.0 or greater on October 31, as well as more than 200 smaller aftershocks occurring every 20 minutes or so, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

There have been no reports of casualties following the earthquake on Sunday, with many residents having left the region because of earlier earthquakes.

Last week  two shallow earthquakes had hit the region, thought to be aftershocks of the M6.2 earthquake that severely damaged the town of Amatrice on August 24.

Since the earthquake in August, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported more than 40 events of M4.0 and larger in the region.

"Central Italy is a tectonically and geologically complex region," said Claire Pontbriand, senior scientist at AIR Worldwide.

The M6.6 quake “occurred approximately 10 km southeast of the October 26, M6.1 quake and is related to the previous seismicity. According to the USGS, the larger size of the October 30 earthquake implies it has ruptured an independent fault patch that had not slipped as part of the preceding earthquakes.

“Like preceding events, this earthquake was the result of crustal normal faulting with a shallow focal depth of 10.0 kilometres. All recent intraplate earthquakes follow a NW-SE trend in the central Apennine Mountains."

According to AIR, earthquake coverage is often not included in standard homeowners’ policies and is typically issued as an extension of fire policies.

For industrial and commercial structures, earthquake coverage may be offered for an additional premium, which varies by region.

The government budget includes provisions for post-disaster insurance pay-outs instead of a state pool or catastrophe fund into which companies can contribute.