Italy Struck by M 6.3 Quake

The earthquake occurred at 3:32 a.m. local time Monday near the crest of the Apennines about 100 kilometers northeast of Rome. It was a shallow normal-faulting event; see more scientific detail on the USGS special page for this quake.

The town nearest the epicenter was L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo. Within the first 24 hours of the quake the death toll is nearing 100, and thousands of buildings have fallen or suffered damage. The last comparable quake in the area was in 1997.

I feel unexpectedly close to this quake, having just read Walter Alvarez's book about the region and its geology, In the Mountains of Saint Francis.