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Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 053 ~ 22 of 45
Images from the quake zone show many buildings collapsed into rubble, while others showed signs of structural damage with deep cracks in exterior walls. Cars were overturned.
The extent of the damage for a relatively light quake raised questions about the quality of construc- tion on the island in the seismically active area off Naples and the active volcano, and the prevalence of illegally built structures.
Fabrizio Pistolesi, the head of Italy’s national architecture advisory board, told SKY that many buildings on the island were built before seismic codes were adopted. He also cited the high incidence of illegal con- struction on Ischia and generally in the Campagna region that includes both the resort island and Naples.
“We know well that in Campagna, more than 200,000 homes were illegally constructed, we are talking about homes constructed in absolute scorn of seismic norms,” he told Sky TG24.
Former Naples prosecutor Aldo De Chiara told Corriere della Sera that most of the recently constructed buildings on Ischia were built without necessary permits, and many with poor quality cement. “We warned about the risk of collapses also in the case of not particularly serious temblors,” De Chiara said. “Unfortu- nately, what we had denounced, happened last night.”
The head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, Angelo Borrelli, told reporters that 2,000 people had been left homeless in Casamicciola and another 600 in Lacco Ameno. He said authorities were checking the stability of hotels to see if they could be used as temporary housing.
The quake came just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake that devastated several towns in central Italy. The quake on Aug. 24, 2016 killed more than 250 people in Amatrice and beyond and set off a months-long series of powerful aftershocks that emptied many towns and hamlets of their people.
Afghan reaction mixed on Trump’s tough-talking speech By RAHIM FAIEZ and KATHY GANNON, Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghans on Tuesday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s harsh words for Pakistan in a speech outlining his strategy for the war-torn country that critics said offered little in the way of details and ruled out nation-building.
Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s second most powerful of cial behind the president, said in a news conference that the U.S. strategy marks a unique opportunity to ultimately achieve peaceful objectives in the region.
“The regional aspect of this strategy is very clear,” he said. “It shows that the problem was very well identi ed.”
Meanwhile, Trump said U.S. troops had a single-point agenda and that was to eliminate extremist ghters. “We are not nation-building again,” he said Monday night. “We are killing terrorists.”
Trump accused Pakistan of giving extremists a safe haven, while next door in Afghanistan they kill U.S.
troops. He said he wanted “immediate” results without saying what actions the United States might take against Pakistan if it ignored his warning.
But analysts in Pakistan warned that isolating Islamabad as the only culprit could increase the in uence of regional players like Russia, China and even Iran.
Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies, said of Trump’s accusations: “This has been the same narrative for the last 15 years. He just upped the ante by being more belligerent or hostile.” Gul warned that the president’s words could drive a wedge deeper into a region that needs cooperation if it is to nd a peaceful end to Afghanistan’s protracted con ict.
The U.S. and Afghanistan have routinely accused Pakistan — and particularly its powerful intelligence agency the ISI — of harboring insurgents and of waging a selective war, attacking those insurgents it considers its enemy and allowing those it has been known to use as proxies, either against hostile neigh- bors India or Afghanistan, to ourish.
Prior to Trump’s speech Monday, Pakistan’s military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor refused to specu-