Quake destroys Italian villages
THERE ARE VOICES UNDER RUBBLE – MAYOR Aftershocks woke people 150km away as some hamlets completely disintegrated.
Apowerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake devastated mountain villages in central Italy yesterday, leaving at least 18 people dead and many missing.
Dozens of buildings collapsed in communities close to the epicentre of the quake in a remote area straddling the regions of Umbria, Marche and Lazio.
Deaths were reported in the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto as emergency services scrambled frantically to rescue people trapped beneath the ruins of houses reduced to piles of masonry.
“The situation is dramatic, there are many dead,” said Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi. “Half the village has disappeared.”
Fabrizio Curcio, the head of Italy’s civil protection service, classed the quake as “severe”. The shocks were strong enough to wake residents of central Rome, some 150km away.
The first two confirmed victims were an elderly couple whose home collapsed in Pescara del Tronto, in the Marche region. Aleandro Petrucci, the mayor of Arquata, said Pescara was one of “two or three hamlets that have just completely disintegrated”.
Another two people died and a family of four were trapped, feared dead, in their collapsed house in Accumoli, according to its mayor Stefano Petrucci. “We have a tragedy here,” said Petrucci. “There are people under the ruins, it is not a good situation.”
In Amatrice, where the local authorities confirmed five deaths, the quake destroyed the hilltop village’s main street.
Mayor Pirozzi said difficult access to the village had prevented emergency services getting through. “We can hear voices under the rubble.”
The first quake struck shortly after 3.30am local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and a 5.4-magnitude aftershock followed an hour later. USGS issued a red alert, suggesting significant casualties and damage. – AFP