The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was an earthquake that occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 3:32 local time (1:32 UTC) on 6 April 2009, and was rated 5.8 on the Richter scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale; its epicentre was near L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, which together with surrounding villages suffered most damage. There have been several thousand foreshocks and aftershocks since December 2008, more than thirty of which had a Richter magnitude greater than 3.5.
The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy; 307 people are known to have died, making this the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.
