Aftershocks Rattle G8 Organizers

Italy's decision to shift the G8 summit to the quake-damaged city of L'Aquila has raised major safety fears as aftershocks continue to rattle the region, reports the Washington Post. A 4.1 magnitude temblor hit the area Friday, with the epicenter just half a mile from where world leaders will be meeting today, prompting Italian officials to acknowledge that they have prepared evacuation plans.

Authorities had previously downplayed the risk, stressing that the concrete-reinforced police barracks where meetings would be held survived the April quake that killed 300 people. "To cause problems, there would need to be an earthquake that has never before been recorded in L'Aquila's history," said the head of Italy's civil protection agency. (More Group of Eight stories.)