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Italian rescuers work into night Italy rescuers comb quake rubble
(about 9 hours later)
Floodlights are aiding rescuers sifting rubble for signs of life after the devastating Italian earthquake, while thousands face a night in shelters. Italian rescuers are continuing to search for survivors under buildings wrecked by a devastating earthquake which killed at least 179 people.
At least 150 people are dead, dozens missing, 1,500 injured and some 50,000 homeless after the pre-dawn quake struck L'Aquila and its region. With 1,500 injured and some 17,000 homeless after Monday's quake struck L'Aquila and its region, many survivors spent the night in shelters.
Emergency crews have reportedly pulled 60 people alive from the rubble. Emergency crews were hampered by after-shocks and rain, but have reportedly pulled 100 people alive from rubble.
Survivors are being housed in hotels or a tent city which has been erected in the medieval hill city. Authorities put the number of people still missing at 34.
A BBC correspondent in L'Aquila says there was a strong aftershock in the city around 2200GMT, which lasted for around two seconds and made the ground feel like jelly. Rescuers were forced to briefly postpone their efforts as the after-shocks dislodged more rubble from buildings.
It was the strongest in a number of tremors felt throughout the day. A BBC correspondent in L'Aquila said the strongest came around 2200 GMT on Monday and made the ground feel like jelly for a few seconds.
Many houses in L'Aquila have been reduced to piles of rubble, dotted with crushed cars. Latest from Dominic Hughes, L'Aquila
class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7986352.stm"> Live interactive map From close up, you realise that every single building has been affected. Some have just lost a few tiles, the windows are gone, or there are cracks in the plaster work.
In one area of L'Aquila, rescuers tried to hush wails of grief as they pinpointed the screams of people trapped beneath debris, a Reuters correspondent reports. In other buildings, it is much more dramatic - big chunks of them seem to have slid off, and yet more buildings have collapsed completely in on themselves.
In the village of Onna, population 350, the quake killed at least 24 people. It demonstrates the random nature of this earthquake - there is a four-storey apartment block that has just collapsed flat like a pancake, and yet the two buildings on either side seem relatively unscathed.
"There's a lot of people dead, there's a lot of people dead," said villager Valentina Brunetto. Survivors spent the night in hotels, cars or a tent city which has been erected in the medieval hill city.
"They're young people, young people dead under the house." As the pouring rain turned brick dust into a white sludge, exhausted emergency workers toiled through the night, pulling away bricks and broken pieces of wood with their bare hands.
Weather breaks Under the eerie glare of floodlights, they combed the rubble of a university dormitory where two students were reportedly found early on Tuesday and where several more were believed to be buried.
The clear, sunny day which dawned amid the dust of shattered centuries-old buildings has given way to a night of rain, hampering the rescuers. Cranes and diggers were also being used in the rescue effort.
A sea of blue tents has appeared in the disaster zone Several people were arrested for looting and police were patrolling the area monitoring buildings ripped open by the quake, Reuters reported.
Brick dust turned to a white sludge but still exhausted emergency workers pulled away bricks and broken pieces of wood with their bare hands, lessening the risk of further casualties that the use of cranes and diggers might pose. Many houses in L'Aquila have been reduced to piles of rubble, and the streets dotted with crushed cars.
At least 5,000 rescue workers are in the region and hospitals, Reuters reports, have appealed for help from doctors and nurses throughout Italy. In the village of Onna, with a population 350, the quake killed at least 38 people.
In pictures: Race against time Survivors huddle in broken city Row over quake 'forecast'
At least 5,000 rescue workers are in the region and hospitals have appealed for help from doctors and nurses throughout Italy.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said the country has the resources to handle the disaster.Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said the country has the resources to handle the disaster.
As dozens of after-shocks rattled the region, many survivors were being bussed to hotels on the Adriatic coast, where up to 10,000 places have been made available.
The state of emergency in place means that more resources can be brought in to give the region what it needs, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from L'Aquila.The state of emergency in place means that more resources can be brought in to give the region what it needs, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from L'Aquila.
How the Italy quake happened Francesco Rocha, commissioner of the Italian Red Cross, said the first priority for the agency, he told the BBC, was to save the lives of people still under the collapsed buildings.
"We're hoping they give us a tent or something to sleep under tonight," Isenia Santilli, 70, told AFP news agency as she took shelter at a L'Aquila sports field where the Red Cross was feeding survivors. "Second, is to organise the lives of the homeless. We are arranging field kitchens, beds and other items to organise their lives for the next days," he said.
Francesco Rocha, commissioner of the Italian Red Cross, put the number of homeless at about 50,000.
First priority for the agency, he told the BBC, was to save the lives of people still under the collapsed buildings.
"Second, is to organise the lives of the homeless. We are arranging field kitchens, beds and other items to organise their lives for the next days."
Shattered heritageShattered heritage
Between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings are thought to have been damaged in L'Aquila, making the 13th Century city of 70,000 uninhabitable for some time. Between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings are thought to have been damaged in L'Aquila, making the 13th-Century city of 70,000 uninhabitable for some time.
L'AQUILA Medieval city, founded in the 13th CenturyCapital of the mountainous Abruzzo regionPopulation 70,000, with many thousands more tourists and foreign studentsWalled city with narrow streets, lined by Baroque and Renaissance buildings Historic town in ruins href="/1/hi/uk/7986352.stm"> Live interactive map class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7986078.stm"> Historic L'Aquila reels
Parts of many of the ancient churches and castles in and around the city have collapsed.Parts of many of the ancient churches and castles in and around the city have collapsed.
L'Aquila is considered one of Italy's architectural treasures. L'Aquila is considered one of Italy's architectural treasures, but the age of the buildings makes them vulnerable to quakes.
"The damage is more serious than we can imagine," Giuseppe Proietti, a culture ministry official in Rome, told the Associated Press. "The damage is more serious than we can imagine," Giuseppe Proietti, a culture ministry official in Rome, told the Associated Press news agency.
"The historic centre of L'Aquila has been devastated.""The historic centre of L'Aquila has been devastated."
Correspondents note that the very age of many of the country's buildings makes them particularly vulnerable to earthquake damage.
Italy lies on two fault lines and has been hit by powerful earthquakes in the past, mainly in the south of the country.
Much of the centre of L'Aquila had to be rebuilt after an earthquake in 1703.
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