Why Tremors Happen Almost Daily In Italy

Italy has a long history of earthquakes, but violent seismic activity causing large numbers of casualties are comparatively rare.

The country is at the meeting point of two tectonic plates, so it is in a region prone to considerable seismic and volcanic activity.

When quakes do strike, particularly down the spine of the country in the central and southern Apennines, the results can be catastrophic.

Before Wednesday's quake in central Italy, the biggest recent disaster was on April 6, 2009, when the Abruzzo area east of Rome was hit.

More than 300 people were killed and the 13th century city of L'Aquila was devastated.

Four years ago, 16 people were killed and 350 injured in the second big earthquake to hit the area around Modena in northern Italy.

An earlier quake nine days earlier had killed 10 people.

There was a massive disaster in 1915, when around 32,600 died in a quake measuring 7.0 which struck Avezzano in central Italy.

And in 1980, nearly 3,000 people were killed and more than 7,500 were injured in an earthquake which had its epicentre at Eboli.

Damage was reported over a huge area towards Naples.

Italy is one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.

The Alps in the north are the result of the African tectonic plate pushing north into the Eurasian plate.

That process is ongoing and the plates continue to move at around 3cm a year.

All the way up the spine of Italy, there are geological faults, or weaknesses in the Earth's crust, and tectonic movement is very slowly pulling the crust, and the Apennine mountain range, apart.

That faultline is thought to be tens of miles long.

The Foreign Office gives travel advice to people planning visits to Italy.

"Many parts of Italy lie on a major seismic fault line," it says. "Minor tremors and earthquakes are almost a daily occurrence."

Prof Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at UCL, said after the L'Aquila experience, the current quake should be no surprise at all.

"In theory, buildings should be constructed to withstand expected shaking, " he said.

"In the case of L'Aquila, and in today's quake, however, much of the building stock is old. Ideally, this can be retrofitted to withstand expected quakes.

"This is expensive, however, and I doubt if it has been undertaken to any significant degree. It always comes down to money and a will to get this done, which is not always evident."

Italy is a popular tourist destination for Britons, with three million going there each year.

August is a peak month for travel to the country, and while most visitors go to the coast, large numbers rent villas or farmhouses around the Apennines.

Flights in and out of Italy have continued as normal.

The morning Ryanair flight to Perugia, the airport nearest to the epicentre of the latest quake, operated as normal.

British Airways' flights to and from Rome are also on schedule