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Large Earthquake Strikes Central Italy Large Earthquake Strikes Central Italy
(about 1 hour later)
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 struck central Italy early Wednesday morning, the United States Geological Survey reported. ROME — Strong earthquakes struck central Italy early Wednesday, killing several people, trapping many others under debris and setting off tremors that awakened sleeping residents in Rome nearly 100 miles away.
There was no immediate information about injuries or damage, but the agency said on its website that by its measurements, significant casualties and extensive damage were likely. The first, 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck at 3:36 a.m. near the town of Accumoli, in the province of Rieti.
The earthquake was reported to have struck outside Norcia, Italy, which is about 110 miles northeast of Rome. The mayor of Accumoli reported that people had been killed there. And at least two people were reported to have been killed in Pescara del Tronto in the province of Ascoli Piceno, according to the authorities
Severe damage was reported in Amatrice, where Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said, “Half the town no longer exists.”
He added that Amatrice had been cut off because of damage to roads and to a bridge, and appealed during a live television broadcast for assistance.
“There are people stuck in the rubble,” he said, calling on the emergency services to help clear roads.
“Houses are no longer there,” he added, suggesting that victims had been buried in the rubble.
The paths of destruction led to other places, including the Tyrrhenian coast. A witness in Sperlonga, a popular seaside town in Lazio, said that the historic city center had been seriously damaged, and news channels showed photos of crumbled buildings and rubble-covered cars.
The earthquake was felt from Rome to Bologna, in Emilia Romagna, in a broad area pockmarked with dozens of small towns, and Italian officials said it was difficult to gauge the number of casualties or the damage as the earth trembled throughout the night.
Fabrizio Curcio, the director of Italy’s Civil Protection Department, said that the earthquake had been severe and that national emergency procedures had been activated.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reported that there had been nearly a dozen other earthquakes in the affected area over the course of about two hours.
None were as strong as the 6.2 quake.
Katherine Selby, who is from Nottingham, England, was vacationing with her family in Campagnano di Roma, just outside Rome, when the wardrobe doors began “shaking like crazy,” she wrote on Twitter.
It was frightening because it was unclear what was going on, she said, adding that she was anxiously waiting for the next aftershock.
She said that there was no damage.
The geological survey said the population in the region lived in structures that were a “mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction.”The geological survey said the population in the region lived in structures that were a “mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction.”
On Twitter, a resident reported that electricity had been knocked out. On Twitter, someone in Le Marche reported that electricity had been knocked out.
In 2009, a devastating earthquake in the Abruzzo region of central Italy killed more than 300 people and left some 65,000 homeless.
Thousands of structures that remained standing were rendered uninhabitable because of damage to the foundations, support beams or walls.