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Gran Sasso laboratory undamaged in L'Aquila earthquake

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Physics Today: Eugenio Coccia, the director of Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory is, reporting that the facility is undamaged by the recent earthquake.

Gran Sasso is the world's largest underground laboratory for experiments in particle physics, particle astrophysics, and nuclear astrophysics. The laboratory consists of three large halls, each 100 m long and 20 m wide, inside a 10 km-long tunnel cut into Gran Sasso mountain, which shields the experiments from most cosmic and local radiation. More than 750 scientists work at the facility.

In an e-mail sent to members of the physics community, Coccia said, "All the experiments are working smoothly, and the external buildings have been essentially untouched."

Coccia thanked the community for the messages of solidarity and sympathy.

As a precaution, access to the laboratory will be limited for the following week.

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2009 L'Aquila Earthquake

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Nature News: The University of L'Aquila, Italy, was mostly destroyed by a magnitude-6.3 earthquake on 6 April. Fifty-five students were among the 295 people who died in the quake. Only two buildings on the university's two out-of-town campuses remain s... Read More

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