A decade after a devastating earthquake struck the Italian mountain town of Amatrice, reconstruction remains unfinished. More than half of its residents still live in temporary housing — but there are hopeful signs.
Image: Crispian Balmer/REUTERS
In the Italian town of Amatrice, most of the historic old town, which was destroyed in 2016, remains cordoned off as a “red zone.” Despite government pledges, only about 38% of the buildings have been renovated or rebuilt so far. More than half of the residents continue to live in temporary housing.
Image: Crispian Balmer/REUTERS
On August 24, 2016, Amatrice was devastated by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake. Some 240 people lost their lives — more than one in ten residents of the scenic mountain town. The quake was felt across much of central Italy. An archive photo from that day shows family members and rescue workers searching for survivors in the rubble.
Image: Ciro De Luca/REUTERS
“After ten years, many people have lost faith,” says Giorgio Cortellesi, the mayor of Amatrice since 2021 who is spearheading the town’s reconstruction. Of the 22.7 billion euros the Italian government has pledged for reconstruction, only about 10 billion euros have been disbursed.
Image: Crispian Balmer/REUTERS
A tangled web of bureaucracy, legal disputes and shifting priorities has delayed reconstruction efforts in Amatrice. In the once-densely built medieval old town, inheritance disputes and unresolved property claims have complicated planning and turned building permit applications into a legal minefield.
Image: Crispian Balmer/REUTERS
The COVID-19 pandemic brought construction work to a near standstill. A program designed to bolster Italy’s struggling economy drove up the cost of building materials and drew workers to more lucrative projects. In 2023, seven years after the earthquake, the area consisted largely of empty lots and a handful of construction projects, as this photo shows.
Image: Manuel Romano/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Aerial photos show just how sparse the development in Amatrice remains today. Many families have left the region following the earthquake and years of construction delays. Others, who used to spend every summer in the town, rarely return.
Image: Pleiades CNES 2026 Distribution Airbus DS/Handout/REUTERS
Given the protracted reconstruction efforts, Mayor Cortellesi doubts whether rebuilding at the original site was the right decision. After years of stagnation, the pace of construction has picked up over the past twelve months. Throughout the city, cranes are at work to mark the tenth anniversary. New homes are finally rising from the rubble.
Image: Crispian Balmer/REUTERS7 images1 | 77 imageshttps://p.dw.com/p/5JJph
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