High heels, platform shoes banned in Italian city

Heels higher than four centimeters and platform shoes have been banned in L'Instituto Technico Industriale in the city of Avezzano as the college is situated in a seismically active region in Italy. Speaking to the Ansa Italian news agency, Anna Amanzi, head of L'Instituto Technico Industriale said: "The directive is not the fruit of some overly puritanical imagination, but comes down to the need to educate students about safety, especially in an area of high seismic activity." Although institute staff and students do not support the ban, they will conform to the decision. Some staff members said that the institute should think of other important issues such as the lack of proper heating systems. The region where the school is located is highly prone to earthquakes. In a 2009 earthquake in the city of L'Aquila of Abruzzo, 286 people died. In another earthquake in 1915, 30,000 people lost their lives.