2009 L'Aquila earthquake 2009 L'Aquila earthquake The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 03:32 CEST (01:32 UTC) on 6 April 2009, and was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter magnitude scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale; its epicentre was near L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, which together with surrounding villages suffered most damage. There have been several thousand foreshocks and aftershocks since December 2008, more than thirty of which had a Richter magnitude greater than 3.5. The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy; 308 people are known to have
Financial centre used type of security, were invented by the Italian city-states (such as Venice and Genoa) of the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. In the sixteenth century, the overall economic supremacy of the Italian city-states gradually came to an end, and the centre of financial activities in Europe shifted to the Low Countries, first to Bruges, and later to Antwerp and Amsterdam. They also became important centres of financial innovation. In the 17th century, Amsterdam became the leading commercial and financial centre. It held this position for more than a century, and was the first modern model of an international