Earthquakes halt production in Italy

Supercar makers Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati have sent their workers home after a series of earthquakes killed 17 people around Modena, Italy, yesterday.

The three Italian sports car icons, along with the Bologna-based motorcycle maker Ducati, have stopped production at their factories for at least 24 hours, as the Emilia Romagna region struggles to cope with more than 600 earthquakes or aftershocks in the last eight days.

At least 17 people died in yesterday’s earthquakes, centered just north of Modena, when a 5.8-level 'quake hit at 9am local time. Six further large shocks, including a 5.4 and a 5.1, followed through the day, leaving 350 injured and 15,000 homeless in the industrial heartland of northern Italy.

While none of the supercar makers received obvious damage in the 'quake, all of them felt it and evacuated. Lamborghini, closest to the epicentre of the earthquake activity, evacuated its factory and sent its workers - several of whom lost their homes - to be with their families. At least two Maserati employees lost their homes.

Ferrari, based 22km south of Modena, was farthest from the earthquakes, but still sent its workers home as a precaution. Its Formula One operations are unaffected.

Two of those killed in yesterday’s earthquake were working in a factory that had been cleared for re-entry only two days earlier.
 
“Just because it’s been cleared by authorities is no guarantee that a building won’t fall down in another earthquake,” Lamborghini’s communications director, Rafaello Porro, said.

“We gave everybody the choice to stay at the factory or go home yesterday and today everybody is with their families because we are sure their families need them now.”