Strong earthquake hits Italy, with reports of buildings collapsing
Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 strikes north-east of Rome, with shock felt
across region and mayor in town of Amatrice saying people buried under
rubble
An earthquake recorded at magnitude 6.2 has struck central Italy, with reports of extensive damage, people trapped, others fleeing into the streets and blackouts near the epicentre.
The mayor of the small town of Amatrice said residents were buried under debris and the town “isn’t here any more”.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit near the town of Norcia
in the region of Umbria at 3.36am. The European Mediterranean
Seismological Centre put the magnitude at 6.1 and said the epicentre was
north-east of Rome, near Rieti.
Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor in Amatrice, near Rieti, reported extensive
damage. “Half the town is gone,” he told RAI state television. “There
are people under the rubble … There’s been a landslide and a bridge
might collapse.”
Italy’s civil protection agency said the earthquake was “severe”.
Fire department spokesman Luca Cari said “there have been reports of
victims” in the quake zone, but he did not have any precise details.
Map of the Italian earthquake zone. Photograph: USGS/EPA
The worst hit towns were believed to be Accumoli, Amatrice, Posta and
Arquata del Tronto, Cari told Reuters, adding that helicopters would be
sent up at first light to assess the damage.
Lina Mercantini of Ceselli, Umbria, told Reuters: “It was so strong.
It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it.”
Urbani, in the town of Scheggino, said: “Dear God it was awful. The walls creaked and all the books fell off the shelves.”
Residents of Rome, 170km (105 miles) from the registered epicentre,
were woken by the quake, which rattled furniture and swayed lights in
most of central Italy.
A 5.5 magnitude aftershock hit the same region an hour after the initial quake.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s spokesman said the government was in
touch with the country’s civil protection agency and following the
situation closely.
The last major earthquake to hit Italy struck the central city of L’Aquila in 2009, killing more than 300 people.
A refuge on the Gran Sasso mountain, popular with hikers and
climbers, said on its Facebook page that a large piece of rock had
collapsed in Wednesday’s quake.
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