The Italian city of Siena closed schools, universities and museums, Thursday, in a precautionary measure after it witnessed a series of mild earthquakes, at a time when news of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria clouded the world’s attention.
And the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology confirmed the occurrence of about 20 tremors, ranging in magnitude between 2 and 2.8 degrees, on Wednesday night, Thursday, after a stronger earthquake of 3.5 degrees, Wednesday, around 10 pm local time.
The municipality said in a statement: “Municipal buildings are being examined, but at this stage no danger has been detected,” stressing that the local authorities intend to “close sports facilities, sports halls and all municipal offices,” according to “Agence France Presse.”
The city of Siena, located in southern Tuscany, is a tourist destination and is famous for its artistic heritage, and for a horse race in which the city’s neighborhoods compete twice a year, on July 2 and August 16, and it is called Paleo.
The historic center of the city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Most regions of Italy are prone to earthquakes, as the country is located on the Eurasian plate and the African plate, which pushes it towards the Balkans to the north.
In 2009, an earthquake killed more than 300 people in the city of L’Aquila and the surrounding area in the center of the country. A similar toll was recorded by the Amatrice earthquake, which also occurred in central Italy, in 2016.
