The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy ; 308 people are known to have died , making this the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake . In a subsequent inquiry of the handling of the disaster , seven members of the Italian National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks were accused of giving " inexact , incomplete and contradictory " information about the danger of the tremors prior to the main quake . On 22 October 2012 , six scientists and one ex-government official were convicted of multiple manslaughter for downplaying the likelihood of a major earthquake six days before it took place . They were each sentenced to six years ' imprisonment , but the verdict was overturned on 10 November 2014 . Criticism was also applied to poor building standards that led to the failure of many modern buildings in a known earthquake zone : an official at Italy 's Civil Protection Agency , Franco Barberi , said that " in California , an earthquake like this one would not have killed a single person "
1980 Irpinia earthquake
1980 Irpinia earthquake
2009 L'Aquila earthquake