Second quake in Italy kills 16
Recovery effort hampered as tremors continue to rock area
CAVEZZO, Italy — An earthquake killed 16 people and injured about 350 in northern Italy on Tuesday, spreading fear among thousands of residents living in tents after a similarly strong tremor in the same region flattened their homes nine days ago.
Rescuers were searching through the rubble of houses and warehouses in the Emilia-romagna region, where several building sites had just reopened after the previous quake on May 20.
Officials said 16 people were confirmed dead, more than twice the number killed in the May 20 quake that, like Tuesday’s, had its epicentre near the city of Modena. The number of those forced to leave their homes doubled to 14,000.
Many residents ran out of buildings when they felt the 5.8-magnitude tremor, which hit just as operations to rebuild the quake-struck region were under way.
“As we were coming down the stairs, we heard the sound of crumbling houses around us. There was a big cloud of dust,” said Giulio, 72, who didn’t give his last name, in Cavezzo, a badly damaged village about 30 kilometres from Modena where three died.
Rescuers searched tirelessly for survivors despite initial operations being hampered by disruption to the cellphone network and to the railway system around Bologna.
A woman was pulled alive from the debris of her house in Cavezzo after 12 hours of searching, said Sky Italia.
The quake was the most deadly to strike Italy since 2009 when a tremor partially destroyed the central city of L’Aquila, killing about 300 people and leaving thousands homeless.
Italian media showed buildings and shopping malls shaking and collapsing under the force of the quake and ambulances racing across towns. Churches and factories were badly damaged.
“It’s a disaster, I’ve never seen anything like it. An endless series of very strong tremors after those of May 20, which had already pulled everything to its knees,” said a very shaken Stefano Draghetti, mayor of Cavezzo.
“We need a lot of help to restart, from those who can — the state, the European Community.”
The quake hit one of the most productive regions in a nation struggling with a deep economic recession.
The civil protection service was setting up new emergency campsites to provide residents with shelter for the night.
Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose cabinet is due to approve fresh emergency measures today, tried to reassure the population in an impromptu news conference.
“I want to assure everyone that the state will do all that it must do, all that is possible to do, as fast as it can to guarantee the return to normality in a region so special, so important, so productive for Italy,” he said.
French President Francois Hollande’s office said France stood ready to provide Italy with any experts or logistical aid it might need. Greece was among the first nations to offer help.