Hundreds of tremors pulsed through the Tuscan Apennines on March 2, 13 of which were significant, measuring from 2.8 to 4.3 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was Barberino di Mugello, where the shocks began at 8:43am and continued through the afternoon.
By midday residents in the Mugello area began to panic as rumors spread that a stronger, more catastrophic quake was about to strike.
Although the news was false, the fear was contagious as locals sent text messages and made hysteric calls to local authorities. However, law enforcement officials were quick to quell the panic.
Several buildings in the region were evacuated, including a handful of schools and Florence’s Biblioteca Nazionale. Aside from the panic caused, relatively little damage resulted from the quakes, except minor cracks in churches and buildings throughout the Mugello. Aftershocks were also felt in the area on March 3.
