At 9 pm on May 6, 1976, fifty -nine tragic seconds changed the face of Friuli forever: a shock of magnitude 6.4 of the Scala Richter devastated the hilly band north of Udine: Gemona, Venzone, Osoppo, Majano and dozens of other municipalities were seriously affected.
Almost a thousand victims, Over 3,000 woundedmore than a hundred countries damaged between the provinces of Udine and Pordenone. Alone Gemonaa completely destroyed Pedemontana citizen, he counted 400 dead. The first shock followed hundreds of replicas, including that of September 15, of magnitude 5.9, which again hit an already proven territory, causing further devastations.
49 years later, the memory of the Orcolat – ORCO, in the Friulian language, be monstrous that the local popular tradition indicates as the cause of the earthquakes – remains alive and central in the collective memory. Tomorrow, like every year, at 9 pm the bells of many Friulian municipalities will play simultaneously, recalling silence and recollection. In Vendoglio, in the church of San Michele, a Holy Mass at 8 pm will be dedicated to the victims and survivors of that night.
Ansa agency The earthquake in Friuli: a thousand deaths, 45 countries destroyed – News – Ansa.it The earthquake that in 1976 hit Friuli – the main shock of 6 May followed, in addition to the swarm that lasted weeks, those equally devastating in September – caused a thousand deaths and hit a large area of Friuli hilly from Osoppo to Gemon … (ANSA) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vx5lw7r95e
But Friuli does not even forget the extraordinary wave of solidarity from all over Italy and from abroad in the most difficult moments. It is also thanks to this choral spirit, animated by mayors and parish priests, that the reconstruction was able to start, under the guidance of the extraordinary commissioner Giuseppe Zamberletti, a key figure of that season, which precisely from that experience laid the foundations for the start of the Italian Civil Protection.
Ansa agency The memory of Zamberletti: “When Moro called me …” – News – Ansa.it The earthquake in the memories of the ‘Father’ Italian Civil Protection (ANSA)
The rebirth process was exemplary: The so -called “Friuli model”built on a strong participation of local communities, managed to combine respect for memory and momentum towards modernity. To remember that season of pain and redemption, an exhibition in Venzone – symbolic epicenter of the tragedy – entitled “past/present” collects voices, images and testimonies of the time and today. A bridge between generations explain the organizers, “not to forget and to continue building”.
Ansa agency The testimony of the survivors: “Bare in line and rubble” – News – Ansa.it ” The cemeteries … the coffins aligned and stacked waiting to deport the corpses that the rubble returned … are the saddest, lacerating, indelible and devastating memories of that experience “. (HANDLE)
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