BREAKING: Earthquake shakes central Italy, 37 dead and death toll expected to rise

EARTHQUAKE ITALY

Rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors buried under rubble in isolated towns and villages across central Italy on Wednesday after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck the region overnight, collapsing homes, rattling buildings as far away as Rome and Venice and leaving an escalating toll of dead and injured.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported at least 21 dead, but added that the toll was almost certain to keep rising, while the Associated Press said at least 23 had been killed. In the worst hit towns, dramatic live images on Italy’s state broadcaster RAI showed rescue workers and local residents desperately clawing through rubble to save buried victims, with several survivors, including a small girl, plucked alive from heaps of debris. Hospitals in the impacted areas were fast filling up with the earthquake injured. Thousands of residents were left homeless.

Speaking in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said: “I cannot but express my great pain and say I am with the people in all the places stricken by this earthquake.”

The main earthquake, centred a shallow 5.5 miles below ground, struck at 3:36 a.m. local time about 10 miles from the town of Norcia in Umbria, a central Italian province known for its rolling hills of olive plantations and vineyards. But the damage was far flung, with devastation striking the narrow, cobblestone streets of towns scattered across a sprawling zone including the earthquake-prone provinces of Lazio and Marche.

Historic buildings crumble after 6.0-magnitude earthquake hits Italy

Historic buildings crumble after 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Italy in 2012

Images showed heavy rubble from fallen buildings piled high on the narrow streets of old Roman towns. The blocked roads, officials said, were hindering rescuers attempting to access victims.

A string of aftershocks as strong as 5.5-magnitude continued to hit the affected zone, catching the country during the high August vacation period when large numbers of Italians stage an exodus from cities and towns for annual holidays.

Luca Cari, spokesman for the Italian fire department, told Reuters that the worst hit towns were Accumoli, Amatrice, Posta and Arquata del Tronto. Rescue workers took to the air in helicopters to assess the damage at dawn.

Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of the devastated town of Amatrice in the province of Lazio told RAI that residents were buried under the debris of collapsed buildings and that “the town isn’t here anymore.” Pirozzi told Ansa that “dozens” had died in his town, suggesting a sharp increase in the death toll as rescue and recovery operations unfolded.

In Amatrice — a town of 2,700 known for its local sons who became the cooks of popes — video and still images showed damaged archways, partially collapsed buildings and town squares in ruins. Men could be seen cleaning away piles of rubble with their hands, buckets and excavators. Live on Rai, a young man, his hand moving, was rescued from the rubble and carried away by workers.

People draped in white blankets were standing next to completely destroyed buildings. Aerial views of before and after pictures showed the magnitude of the destruction in what used to be a picturesque town.

Pirozzi issued alarming assessments, saying debris was so bad that streets needed to be cleared to reach stranded residents.

“The streets are not passable and there are people under the rubble,” he told Rai. “We are trying by all means to bring first aid, but we are working without light.”

Later, the ANSA news agency reported that at least five bodies were pulled from the rubble in Amatrice with more expected.

The mayor of another hard hit town, Accumoli, described extensive damage and casualties.

“Four people are under the rubble, but they are not showing any sign of life. Two parents and two children,” the mayor, Stefano Petrucci, told RAI.

Journalist Sabrina Fantauzzi, was in Illica, a village 88 miles northeast of Rome, when the earthquake struck: “When I woke up during the night from the shock, I saw a big crack in the wall, I made it just in time to take the kids, taking the stairs and leave,” she told ANSA. “The oldest houses, those of 1700, are damaged … but those made in the 70s are pulverized, the only buildings that held up were those built after the 80s, according to earthquake-resistant criteria.”

Authorities called on residents in Lazio and other hit provinces to avoid congesting roadways help rescue workers. They also issued appeals for blood as hospitals saw a rush of earthquake injuries.

In Norcia, close to the epicenter, a number of homes had been reinforced to withstand earthquakes, which appeared to have limited the damage, although there were reports of injuries.

Aid stations were being set up to distribute warm drinks. “Now we are trying to set up camps,” city councilor Giuseppina Perla told RAI.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center and the U.S. Geological Survey reported the main quake had a magnitude at 6.2, strong enough to wake up residents of Rome some 105 miles to the south.

“This was very, very bad, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sabrina Sbermola, a resident of the central Italian town of Arquata el Tronto, told the BBC.

The earthquake evoked memories of 2009, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck further south, killing more than 300 people. That quake was centered around L’Aquila, about 54 miles south of the latest quake. – Washington Post 

You Might Also Like

Comments