Quake rattles Rome

Town of Amatrice ‘isn’t here anymore’

ROME — A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck central Italy early today, levelling buildings in several towns as residents slept. The mayor of hard-hit Amatrice said people were trapped under debris and that “the town isn’t here anymore.”

The quake struck at 3:36 a.m. Italian time and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including Rome, where people felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. First images of damage showed debris in the street and some collapsed buildings in towns and villages that dot the Umbrian countryside.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the magnitude at 6.1. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.2, with the epicentre at Norcia, about 170 kilometres northeast of Rome, with a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

The hardest-hit towns were reported as Amatrice, Accumoli and Norcia, with residents running into the streets as aftershocks continued for hours.

Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi, told state-run RAI radio and Sky TG24 that residents were buried under collapsed buildings, that the lights had gone out and that heavy equipment was needed to clear streets clogged with debris.

“The town isn’t here anymore,” he said.

The office of Premier Matteo Renzi tweeted that heavy equipment was on its way.

Italy’s ANSA news agency reported that two bodies had been pulled from the rubble in Amatrice.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the same region and killed more than 300 people.