QUAKE: Inspections find most L'Aquila homes inhabitable

| Tue, 04/14/2009 - 05:26

Out of the some 1,000 building inspections made so far here in the Abruzzo capital and the surrounding province, 50% of the structures are inhabitable, 20% need minor repairs to be stable while 30% are totally uninhabitable, civil protection sources said on Tuesday.

Inspectors are first checking buildings which appear to be stable while the center of this city and neighboring towns, where the damage from the April 6 earthquake is most evident, have been cordoned off and will be inspected later.

Over 1,500 experts are being employed in the inspections and out of the first 1,000 structures examined so far 805 were residences, 31 were schools, 86 public office buildings and 127 were work places.

Schools, hospitals and public offices in the L'Aquila province were among the first buildings to be inspected.