...this time it was in Italy...

The great Italian writer Ignazio Silone once wrote, "In an earthquake, everyone dies: rich and poor, learned and illiterate, authorities and people. An earthquake accomplishes what words and laws promise and never achieve: the equality of all."

Silone had reason to know. When he was 14 an earthquake hit his birthplace, Pescina, about 25 miles from L'Aquila, the epicenter of Monday's 6.3 earthquake in the rugged hills of the Abruzzo region of Italy, about 70 miles east and north of Rome. He dug his mother's body from the rubble and rescued the only other surviving family member, his younger brother. The experience haunted him his whole life, surfacing in his great novel "Bread and Wine."

Monday's earthquake was not quite so devastating as that 1915 Abruzzo earthquake, which killed 3,500 of the 5,000 inhabitants of Pescina, but it was devastating enough. The death toll reached at least 235, with at least 1,000 people injured and some 17,000 homeless. Rescue efforts have been hampered by aftershocks, not to mention the winding roads in the rugged region. L'Aquila, a medieval town that reached its peak of prosperity during the Renaissance, has been virtually destroyed. Historic castles and churches have been split in two or reduced to rubble.

"What risks being lost is a point of reference of European civilization," said Alessandro Clementi, who has written several books on the history of L'Aquila.

What has already been lost are hundreds of lives and thousands more shattered. That human suffering takes a toll on all of us. Whether L'Aquila and 26 other smaller towns also damaged can be properly rebuilt when the Italian government is already facing a financial crisis is unknown. What is known is that thousands of people are suffering.

The earthquake in Italy should be a reminder to those of us who live in Southern California that we could face a similarly devastating quake at almost any time. It should be a motivation to make sure we have earthquake kits with emergency first-aid and food supplies, water and a battery-powered radio, in our houses and our cars – and a disaster survival plan for our families.

It should also impel some of us who can afford it to contribute to relieving the suffering of the victims of the quake in Italy. You can make a donation to the International Response Fund of the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, or logging onto www.redcross.org