A week after a major earthquake that cost the lives of 11 people, the earth continued to move in central Italy yesterday. Inhabitants of towns and villages in the central regions of Umbria, the Marche and Tuscany all took to the streets in panic on a day when at least 37 tremors were felt, and when the 13th-century Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi suffered fresh damage.
By the standards of last week's black Friday, yesterday's tremors were mild, with human casualties limited to injuries to four firemen who had been surveying on a building damaged in last week's tremors. Yesterday's strongest tremor, which struck at 10.55 a.m., measured 5.1 on the Richter scale, rather milder than last week's two strongest shocks of 5.5 and 5.6 respectively.
In effect, yesterday's tremors would appear to have provoked further damage only to buildings already hit last week. However, that would mean another blow at Italy's vast cultural and artistic patrimony. As well as the basilica at Assisi, among the buildings with some degree of damage last week were the Church of Saint Philip Neri in Perugia, the Duomo of Orvieto, the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Spoleto, the Church of Saint Catherine in Camerino, the Church of Saint Francis in Pergola and the Duomo and Palazzo Ducale in Urbino.
Last week's biggest artistic casualties were probably the frescoes by medieval artist Cimabue on the ceiling of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. Four people were killed when one whole vaulted panel of his work literally crumbled into rubble and dust in a dramatic moment captured on live television.
The last tremors came at the end of a week of polemics, with inhabitants of the shaken zones claiming that the provision of both relief aid and temporary accommodation has been slow. About 45 per cent of Italy's national territory is subject to seismic movement and in the last week approximately 650 tremors have been registered, while further tremors are expected over the next fortnight.
Many experts have been critical of the failure of public administrations to adequately protect public buildings, especially those of outstanding artistic worth.
Dr Bruno Zanardi, a restoration expert based in Assisi, commented bitterly this week: "It is a fact that from 1253, the date of the consecration of the Basilica of Saint Francis (Assisi), through to the 1950s when the original wood support linings were substituted [with cement] not a single dome vault collapsed."