2009 L'Aquila earthquake concrete elements of the fallen buildings "seemed to have been made poorly, possibly with sand". An official at Italy's Civil Protection Agency, Franco Barberi, said that "in California, an earthquake like this one would not have killed a single person". According to Italian media, L'Aquila's chief prosecutor has opened a probe into possible criminal blame for the collapses. Many people reported seeing peculiar sightings of light glows, flashes, lightning, flames and fireballs, all of which were considered candidates for earthquake light. 241 luminous phenomena were collected including photos and videos. At least 99 of such phenomena occurred before the main
2009 Xinjiang earthquake to schools, government buildings and tents, said a regional civil affairs department official. No casualties have been reported so far. A total of 198 houses collapsed and 2,928 were damaged. The direct economic loss was estimated at 21 million yuan ($US 3.1 million). According to the Chinese zodiac the Xinjiang earthquake occurred on the last day of the year of the Rat. Previously the year of the Rat was known as a negative year for China including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, 2008 Tibetan unrest, 2008 milk scandal and many more events. 2009 Xinjiang earthquake The 2009 Xinjiang earthquake occurred in