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In the early afternoon of September 26, 1997 a sequence of earthquakes hit the Italian province of Umbria. The two main quakes, with a magnitude of 5.6-5.8, were followed by a series of aftershocks - one aftershock was so strong that it caused the partial collapse of the damaged roof of the basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. This event was filmed during a meeting to evaluate the damage sustained by the historic frescos of the ceiling.
Fig.1. Four persons were killed when the roof of the basilica of Assisi suddenly collapsed. Like a grim reminder that earthquakes are frequent events in the Apennines a fresco in another basilica - possibly painted by the great artist Giotto (1267-1337)- shows a woman recovering the body of her daughter from a collapsed building. The legend attributes the destruction to an earthquake and tells also the miraculous reanimation of the dead daughter by St. Francis (image in public domain).