Amatrice marks tenth earthquake anniversary with 8,579 families still displaced

Anniversary and the scale of destruction

The central Italian town of Amatrice approaches the tenth anniversary of the 24 August 2016 earthquake that struck the Apennines. At 03:36 that morning, a magnitude 6.0 tremor hit the borders of Lazio, Umbria, Marche, and Abruzzo, devastating the municipalities of Accumoli, Amatrice, and Arquata del Tronto. Official records count 299 fatalities, including 14 children, while aggregate regional estimates cite over 300 deaths across the disaster zone, with 250 in Rieti province and between 237 and 239 in Amatrice alone. Former mayor Sergio Pirozzi recalled navigating the ruins by moonlight after electricity failed across the town center. Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi leads a memorial mass in Amatrice on 24 August to commemorate the victims.

Status of displaced residents and housing

Government figures show ongoing displacement across the damaged municipalities. Extraordinary commissioner for reconstruction Guido Castelli stated that housing returns have accelerated since his appointment, noting that 5,452 families have returned to their properties, a 38.4% increase compared to the previous annual period.

Since I took office, 5,452 family units have returned home (38.4% more than the previous year). The families out of their homes were 14,211 in 2022, today they are 8,579, of which 2,267 are in the Sae. Still too many, but we are now on the right track.

Despite those returns, 8,579 families remain outside their original residences, including 2,267 households residing in prefabricated emergency housing units known as SAE. In 2022, the total displaced population stood at 14,211 families.

Reconstruction progress and bureaucratic delays

Rebuilding efforts across Central Italy have faced procedural hurdles and administrative disputes. A report by ActionAid found that two out of three public works projects have not yet restarted. Early recovery efforts in Amatrice suffered a one-year setback after initial rubble removal proceeded without recording original property boundaries. In Accumoli, the epicentre of the main shock, early rebuilding initiatives were temporarily halted when authorities deemed proposed works non-compliant with local zoning plans for buildings that had been flattened.

Public works and infrastructure

Inside Amatrice, private property owners have submitted 1,501 funding requests, including 1,199 for severe damage, resulting in 828 active building interventions. Corso Umberto I has been paved with asphalt, but reconstruction remains split between active building sites in the southern quarter and cleared, vacant land in the northern zone. Public reconstruction includes work on the municipal hall, the Carabinieri barracks, the hotel school, the cathedral, and the Don Minozzi educational and care complex. The town hospital, funded through contributions committed by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has completed its exterior structure and requires interior finishing ahead of an anticipated opening next year. In Piazza Sagnotti, where 19 people died in 1960s and 1970s apartment buildings whose structural collapse led to Cassation Court convictions for two technicians, residential reconstruction is progressing toward completion.