Rome - The Latest on the earthquake in central Italy:
By Agencies
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Published: Wed 24 Aug 2016, 7:56 AM
Last updated: Wed 24 Aug 2016, 6:25 PM
A strong earthquake brought down buildings in mountainous central Italy early on Wednesday, trapping residents and sending others fleeing into the streets. At least 37 people are killed, said a civil protection spokeswoman. The quake caused serious damage to a number of towns and villages but did not seem to have hit heavily populated areas. The worst hit towns were believed to be Accumoli, Amatrice, Posta and Arquata del Tronto, Fire Department spokesman Luca Cari told Reuters, adding that helicopters would be sent up at first light to assess the damage.
The Latest on the earthquake in central Italy: Another town reports quake devastation Residents say another town in central Italy has been devastated by the 6 magnitude quake: Pescara del Tronto in the province of Ascoli Picenza, in eastern Le Marche region. The main road into and out of the town was covered in debris, making rescue difficult; residents were digging their neighbors out by hand. Photos taken from the air by regional firefighters showed much of the tiny town essentially flattened Pope leads prayers for earthquake victims Pope Francis, saddened by an earthquake that struck central Italy overnight, cancelled a speech he was to have given at his general audience and instead prayed with the crowd for victims and survivors. "Hearing the mayor of Amatrice say that the town no longer exists and hearing that there are children among the victims, I am deeply saddened," he told tens of thousands of people who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for his general audience. Francis said he would postpone his weekly address on religious teachings until next week and asked the crowd to pray with him for the victims of the quake. Death toll continues to rise in Italian earthquake Deaths were reported in three villages in a mountainous area straddling the regions of Lazio and Marche: Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto. "The situation is dramatic, there are many dead. I cannot give a toll for now because rescue efforts are under way and it is very, very difficult," said Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi. According to local officials, two people have been confirmed dead at Arquata, five at Amatrice and two in Accumoli with a number of people unaccounted for in all three locations. Two bodies recovered from rubble in Italian quake The ANSA news agency says two bodies have been pulled from the rubble of quake-hit Amatrice in central Italy after a strong quake levelled buildings as residents slept. Many buildings in center of Amatrice were razed by the 6.1 magnitude quake, which struck at 3:36am on Wednesday. As dawn broke, residents with shovels and emergency workers with bulldozers were beginning to try to reach people trapped under the debris and clear blocked roads. The two bodies mark the first known victims of the quake, although the mayor of the other hard-hit town of Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, says a family of four is buried without any signs of life. Family of four trapped under debris without any signs of life The mayor of the quake-hit town of Accumoli says a family of four has been located under the debris of a collapsed building and but there are no signs of life. Mayor Stefano Petrucci told state-run RaiNews24 that there was also another victim in the town, which is close to the epicenter of Italy's 6.1 magnitude quake. Officials say Accumoli and Amatrice have been the hardest hit by the quake. Residents across a broad swath of central Italy felt the temblor, which struck at 3:36 a.m. and sent people running into the streets. Residents are buried under the debris The mayor of the Umbrian town of Amatrice, hit hard by the 6.1 magnitude quake, says residents are buried under the debris of collapsed buildings and that "the town isn't here anymore." Sergio Pirozzi told state-run RAI radio and Sky TG24 that he needs heavy equipment to clear rubble-clogged streets to get to the injured. Asked if there were any dead he said: "Look there are houses that aren't here anymore. I hope we get some help." The quake struck central Italy, near Rieti, shortly after 3:30 a.m. and was followed by several aftershocks. Quake hits Italy, triggering red alert The US Geological Survey said a 6.2 magnitude quake hit near the town of Norcia, in the region of Umbria, at 3.36 a.m. (0136 GMT). Italy's civil protection agency said the earthquake was "severe". "It was so strong. It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it," Lina Mercantini of Ceselli, Umbria, told Reuters. Olga Urbani, in the nearby town of Scheggino, said: "Dear God it was awful. The walls creaked and all the books fell off the shelves." Residents of Rome, some 170 km (105 miles) from the 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 on Twitter that the government was in touch with the 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.
Here are the country's most deadly quakes over the past 30 years:- August 24, 2016: A 6.2 magnitude quake hits mountain villages in a remote area straddling the regions of Umbria, Marche and Lazio. At least 18 people are killed. - May 2012: Two violent shocks 10 days apart leave 23 people dead and 14,000 others homeless in the northern Emilia Romagna region. - April 6, 2009: An earthquake rattles central Italy leaving 309 people dead, around 65,000 homeless and toppling priceless churches and monuments. L'Aquila, the capital of the mountainous region of the Abruzzo, bears the brunt of the disaster. - October 31, 2002: Thirty people are killed and 61 injured when the village of San Giuliano di Puglia in the central eastern region of Molise is hit by a violent earthquake. Twenty-seven children and their teacher are crushed under their schoolhouse in the tiny mediaeval village. - September 6, 2002: An earthquake kills two in Palermo, Sicily. - July 17, 2001: At least three people are killed in an earthquake in Alto Adige, near Bolzano in northern Italy. - September 26 and October 3, 1997: Two earthquakes shake Umbria in central Italy and Marche in the east within the space of a week. Twelve people are killed, more than 110 injured and 38,000 left homeless. The quakes damage several historic buildings, including the basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. - December 13, 1990: An earthquake hits Sicily, killing 17 and injuring 200. On May 5 the same year, four people are killed in a quake in the southern region of Basilicate. - The deadliest quakes ever to have hit Italy were on December 28, 1908, in Reggio di Calabria and neighbouring Sicily which killed around 95,000 and on January 13, 1915, in the town of Avezzano, in Abruzzo, killing 30,000. On November 23, 1980, a strong earthquake in the southern Campania and Basilicate regions killed more than 2,900.
Rescuers search a crumbled building in Arcuata del Tronto, central Italy. AP
A post office is engulfed by rubbles in Arcuata del Tronto, central Italy. AP
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