Italy is marking the 12th anniversary of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the city of L'Aquila in the early hours of 6 April 2009, killing 309 people, leaving 70,000 homeless and devastating more than 50 villages in the central Abruzzo region. Due to covid-19, for the second year in a row residents of L'Aquila have been unable to gather together for the traditional torchlit procession through the city's streets.

Instead a huge blue beam of light was projected into the sky from an almost deserted Piazza Duomo last night, and the church bells rang out 309 times, once for each victim left buried under the rubble. Works to reconstruct buildings in L'Aquila are still underway, 12 years after the city was devastated by the deadly earthquake.