Massive 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Central Italy Two Months After Another Disaster Killed Almost 300 People
- A major earthquake measuring a magnitude of 6.6 has struck central Italy
- The tremor struck 68 kilometres east-southeast of Perugia on Sunday
- There are no reports of casualties but there is widespread damage
- It comes after a 6.4 earthquake struck east of the city on Wednesday
Daily Mail UK, 30 October 2016
A major earthquake measuring a magnitude of 6.6 has struck central Italy.
There are no immediate reports of casualties from the quake that hit some 40 miles east-southeast of Perugia, in the country's Umbria region, on Sunday morning.
The epicentre of the quake was just four miles north of the ancient town of Norcia, which has a population of around 5,000 people but tremors were felt as far away as Rome and Venice.
Homes were completely destroyed while cars on the street were also damaged as rubble fell
The powerful force of the tremor reduced many buildings in the ancient town of Norcia to rubble
The world famous Basilica of St Benedict in Norcia and other buildings have been destroyed, with the streets of the town now covered in rubble from the tremor.
Television images showed nuns rushing out of their church and into the main piazza in Norcia as the clock tower appeared about to crumble.
The United States Geological Survey initially recorded the quake as a 7.1 magnitude, but have since revised it back to 6.6.
The quake set dogs barking in the largely-abandoned towns of Castelsantagelo, Preci and Visso, where residents had left their homes to sleep in cars or moved to the coast after another quake last week.
Marco Rinaldi, the mayor of Ussita, one of the pretty mountain villages hit by the both quakes said:
'Everything collapsed. I can see columns of smoke, it's a disaster, a disaster.
'I was sleeping in my car, I saw hell break out.'
A major earthquake measuring a magnitude of 6.6 has struck near Perugia in central Italy
The roof of this ancient religious Basilica of St Benendict was brought to the ground by the earthquake
Another hard-hit city, Castelsantangelo sul Nera, also suffered new damage.
In Arquata del Tronto, which had been devastated by the August 24 earthquake that killed nearly 300 people, the mayor Aleandro Petrucci said:
'There are no towns left.'
'Everything came down,' he added.
Italy's civil protection department said there were 'checks underway in all the towns affected by this morning's quake to determine whether there has been any damage to people or buildings.'
In Norcia, nuns knelt in prayer and a firefighter appealed to a priest to help maintain calm among dozens of residents gathered there, including some in wheelchairs.
The church, which had withstood the August earthquake in August and last week's aftershocks, still was standing, but television pictures showed piles of stone had accumulated at the bottom of one wall.
The streets of Norcia, which has a population of around 5,000, have been filled by rubble as a result of the quake
The incredible force of the earthquake is clear from these photos taken on Sunday morning
An elderly nun is helped by emergency crews following the massive earthquake
One stone was thrown meters into the center of the piazza, illustrating the quake's force.
`'We have to keep people calm. Prayer can help. I don't want people to go searching for family members,' the firefighter appealed as cameras from SKY TG24 filmed.
The quake was felt throughout the Italian peninsula, with reports as far north as Bolzano and as far south as Bari.
Residents rushed into the streets in Rome, where ancient palazzi shook, swayed and lurched for a prolonged spell.
Meanwhile people in both neighbouring Croatia and Slovenia reported feeling the tremor.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude at 6.6 or 6.5 with an epicentre 82 miles north east of Rome and 40 miles east of Perugia.
Buildings have been reduced to rubble by the major tremor, which hit 108km below the surface
A Sky news reporter comforts a shocked woman after the enormous earthquake
The streets of Norcia in central Italy have been filled by rubble as a result of the quake
The German Research Centre for Geosciences put the magnitude at 6.5 and said it had a depth of six miles, a relatively shallow quake near the surface but in the norm for the quake-prone Apennine Mountain region.
It comes after an earthquake measuring 6.4 struck east of the city on Wednesday, tremors from which were felt as far away as the capital Rome.
It hit two months after almost 300 people were killed in the region by a quake that levelled several small towns.