The tragedy of San Giuliano di Puglia

On October 31, 2002, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Molise and parts of Puglia. The worst-hit municipality was San Giuliano di Puglia, in the province of Campobasso, where the tremor caused the "Francesco Jovine" school to collapse. Trapped under the buildings' debris were 57 children, eight teachers, and two janitors.

The bustle of vehicles and rescuers was nonstop. In the beginning, for thirty grueling hours, they dug with their bare hands through the debris without the help of bulldozers. By dawn on Friday, November 1, they were able to pull Angelo out of the rubble, the last of the survivors to be rescued, but the death toll was dramatic: 27 children and a teacher had been killed. The entire first-grade class of children born in 1996 in San Giuliano was dead.

On November 3, 2002, President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi attended the funerals of the victims. At the ceremony, the mother of one of the children who died in the collapse called upon Italian schools to be safer.

Following the San Giuliano tragedy, which resulted in 30 deaths, approximately 100 injuries, and nearly 14,000 people left homeless, state action was directed toward establishing a new seismic classification. The national territory was divided into four zones of decreasing risk, effectively removing any unclassified areas. No region of our country can be considered free from seismic risk.

Photo: Search and rescue activities in San Giuliano di Puglia following the October 31, 2002 earthquake / National Fire and Rescue Service