Italy quake victims get new homes; new quake hits

ROME — The government is handing over dozens of new homes to victims of the April 6 earthquake that devastated parts of central Italy.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi will preside over the inauguration ceremony Tuesday for the first new homes in Onna, a tiny hamlet that was leveled by the magnitude 6.3-magnitude temblor. Some 40 of Onna’s 300 people were killed.

The new structures — simple single-story homes or apartments, complete with furniture and appliances — were provided by Italy’s Trento region, the Red Cross and the civil protection department.

In addition, a new day care center in Onna is being inaugurated.

The ceremony comes as civil protection crews and firefighters in Tuscany, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of L’Aquila, inspected buildings following a 4.2-magnitude quake that struck Monday night.

No damage or injuries have been reported. The epicenter was in Barberino del Mugello, near Florence, the civil protection department said.

All told, 300 people in the Abruzzo region were killed following the April 6 quake and about 50,000 were driven from their homes.

Berlusconi, while battling scrutiny over a sex scandal, has been largely praised for the government’s handling of the quake aftermath. He shifted this summer’s Group of Eight summit from Sardinia to L’Aquila to save money and show support for the quake victims.

Homeless were put up in tent camps around L’Aquila, in hotels on the coast, or with families who offered up their homes.

Of the original 50,000 quake homeless, some 25,350 people are still living in hotels or with volunteer families while another 11,000 are in tents.

In addition to the new homes, Berlusconi has said the apartments inside a police training school, which were renovated to house G-8 delegates this summer, would also be turned over to quake victims as temporary housing.