Photos taken by Massimiliano Stucchi and by other seismologists working at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV – Bologna).
Photos and corresponding observations date back to the day of the main shock (August, 24 – Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto municipalities) and the day after (August, 25 – other municipalities), when the area stricken (apart from Amatrice municipality) were still accessible. Due to that, in the vast majority of the cases, the damage mechanisms observed and reported in the following photographic sequence correspond to those actually caused by the seismic event.
It is worth noting that attention has been paid to the entire portfolio of damage typologies observed on site, which were shown to range from the total or partial collapse of buildings and churches to the light damage undergone by structures that apparently performed well during the earthquake. It should be evidenced that access to the damaged buildings were anyway strictly forbidden by local authorities.
A few days after the event, access was restricted/denied and demolition of the most heavily damaged structures or of parts of them took place.