Earthquake

At 3:32 a.m. this morning, April 6th, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck central Italy. The epicenter of the quake was L'Aquila, a medieval city approximately 120 km (75 miles) from Rome.

Home and asleep in Rome, we were awoken to our bed shaking and furniture and pictures rattling on the walls. But nothing fell or broke and soon the quake stopped. It was so surreal that C.J. and I had to ask eachother of the quake was a dream or really happening as it was the middle of the night and we had both been in a deep sleep. The kids never woke up or felt the tremors.

Sadly, as of this morning there are more than 20 victims of the earthquake and many more that have been injured. I am sure that the major news sites will continue to report from L'Aquila - where many properties are damaged and a state of emergency has been declared - throughout the day.

Here is one story from Fox News World:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512623,00.html

and one from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/world/europe/07italy.html?_r=1&hp

Because of the age of many of the properties in this (and many/most) towns throughout Italy, they just aren't built to protect against earthquakes. As of this morning they are reporting that there may be 10,000 buildings damaged by the quake.

We will be praying for all those impacted by the earthquake and ask you to keep them in your prayers during this Holy Week.