Ferrari suspends operations after an earthquake in Italy
As Scuderia Ferrari continued its preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in northern Italy forced the Maranello team to suspend its activities for the day to allow its employees to reunite with their families.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the scale struck this morning the Modena region. The current toll already stands, according to the police, at ten dead, a number that could rise in the coming hours: « The situation is very serious, some people are trapped under the rubble » says Alberto Silvestri, mayor of the commune of San Felice sul Panaro, near the epicenter of the earthquake, on SkyTG24.
Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister, was keen to assure everyone that the State would do everything that needs to be done, everything that will be possible, as quickly as possible to ensure a return to normality in such a special, important, and productive region for Italy.
A previous earthquake, with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale, had struck the region around Modena on May 20, destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing more than 7,000 people to temporarily live in tents. The epicenter of the earthquake that occurred this Tuesday is located, according to the US Geological Survey, less than 30 km from Modena, not far from the epicenter of last week’s earthquake, and was felt over 200 km away.
Based in Maranello, about fifty kilometers from San Felice sul Panaro, Scuderia Ferrari has decided to suspend its activities for the day, primarily to allow its employees to reunite with their families. « After the earthquake, activities were suspended for the day. All workers and employees were allowed to join their families, » announces Ferrari on its Twitter account. Fernando Alonso, who was supposed to take over from Davide Rigon in the simulator today, also confirmed the information on his own account: « After the earthquake, the team decided to stop activities at the factory. We are all going home. »
Another earthquake near Modena and in Northern Italy…. Everything looks ok here at the factory..
— Scuderia Ferrari (@InsideFerrari) Mai 29, 2012
The Maranello factory should, in all likelihood, reopen its doors as early as tomorrow to continue preparations for the next Grand Prix, held across the Atlantic. On Monday, on its website, the Italian team stated: « The two F2012s that took part in the Monaco Grand Prix didn’t take long to return home. Chassis 294 and 295, used respectively by Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, were already in the assembly workshop [Monday morning], undergoing the usual post-race reconstruction. In fact, there is no time to lose given that these same cars, and all the technical equipment, must depart for Montreal on Saturday morning. »
But the men of Maranello are not the only ones to have ceased their activities as the Ducati MotoGP team also has its premises in the region: Ducati is closed today following the earthquake. Everyone is fine, we are inspecting the factory. We feel very close to all the families and people living nearby during this difficult time, declares the Valentino Rossi team on its Twitter account.
Situated at the junction of the Eurasian and African plates, Italy is frequently subject to earthquakes, one of the most recent of which devastated the L’Aquila region in the center of the peninsula on April 6, 2009, naturally mobilizing the Italian Formula One community, notably Jarno Trulli, who visited the victims. However, this was nothing compared to the Messina earthquake in Sicily, which, in 1908, led to the death of at least 70,000 people.
