Roundup: Italian president pays visit to quake-hit central regions

Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Friday paid a visit to the central regions of Italy most affected by a series of strong earthquakes in the last months.

Mattarella first visited the village of Ussita in the Marche region, greeting residents and visiting the so-called "red-zone," before visiting a local industrial complex.

All of Ussita was evacuated and has been sealed off since a 6.0-magnitude tremor occurred on Aug. 24, and a second one on Oct. 26, the epicenter of which was registered very near the village.

The small community of about 400 inhabitants was among those most heavily affected by the seismic events, and local authorities in late October declared any access to the village would be forbidden for at least two months.

The president then went to Preci in the Umbria region, visiting one of the major food factories in the area. Cities like Preci, Norcia, and the Umbria region overall, are renowned for the production of cured pork meat, or "prosciutto" as it is called here, which represents a top made-in-Italy export.

Norcia was the third stop on the president's tour. The medieval city was severely affected by the quakes, and especially by the 6.5-magnitude tremor on Oct. 30 that struck a few kilometers from the city.

It was the most powerful quake in Italy since 1980, and made many historic buildings and churches in Norcia collapse, including the symbolic 13th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict.

In Norcia, which also remains completely abandoned and sealed off for security reasons, Mattarella attended a prefabricate school that was inaugurated on Oct. 14 to allow all pupils to begin their school year.

"I am attending schools and companies today because both are key elements whose continuity will ensure the recovery of these (quake-affected) municipalities," Mattarella said in Norcia.

He pledged the reconstruction goal would be fulfilled, even though it would require time and a strong commitment.

The president had already visited the quake-affected central regions several times since late August, the latest in early November.

In that occasion, he promised Norcia, and its Saint Benedict Basilica now almost completely in ruins, would "return as they were before."

Overall, at least 22,000 people were left homeless in the three regions affected by the quakes, according to the Civil Protection agency. Some 299 people were killed in the Aug. 24 central Italy earthquake. Endit