Earthquake

Italy is a seismic country, subject from time to time to more or less devastating earthquakes.

As an Italian, albeit living in an area that has not been involved, I fully sympathize with the people that has been affected, as a Christian I pray for them.

As an engineer, I know that to keep our cultural heritage, that a substantial part of the World’s cultural heritage, from Roman time to now, it has been necessary a continuous work of maintaining, building and re-building, reinforcing, sewing cracks, every time trying to improve the structures, by using the same material together with new knowledge and technologies: this is why Roman and Medieval buildings and churches are still there, this is why they shall be still there in the future.

If we can still admire our culturale heritage today, this is due to the steady work of the past generations, in the same way every generation has to work to transmit the heritage to those that shall come afterwards.

(the picture is relevant to the eartquake in Messina, 1908, from http://www.grifasi-sicilia.com/messina_il_duomo_terremoto%20del%2028%20dicembre%201908_1.jpg)