Standing tall, tower survives in town left ruined by two quakes
IT IS centuries old and had been rocked by a killer earthquake a few weeks ago.
But when the earth shook again yesterday in Italy’s strongest tremors for 36 years, this clock tower again proved a match for Mother Nature as it was left standing tall amid the ruins of its ancient town.
Despite losing its bell and the very top of its stonework, the 13th century tower stood firm amid the devastation of Amatrice – its clock frozen at the time of the last quake, which killed nearly 300 people on August 24.
Yesterday’s shockwaves toppled buildings across central Italy and sent panicked residents rushing into the streets at 7.40am.
The 6.6-magnitude quake was felt as far north as Salzburg in Austria and all the way down the Italian peninsula to Puglia in the south.
In Arquata del Tronto in the Marche region, mayor Aleandro Petrucci said: ‘There are no towns left. Everything came down.’
Thirty miles away, Ussita mayor Marco Rinaldi said a huge cloud of smoke had erupted from the crumbled buildings of his town, adding: ‘It’s a disaster … I saw hell.’
Helicopters were used to help the injured, after landslides blocked access to the hardesthit places. Some rail lines were also closed.
Closest to the epicentre was the ancient city of Norcia, birthplace of St Benedict and famed for its monastery.
Witnesses said the 14th- century cathedral collapsed, with only the facade left. ‘It’s as if the whole city fell down,’ assessor Giuseppina Perla said. Priests and nuns fled into the main piazza and knelt in prayer as the bell tower appeared on the verge of collapse.
The town’s deputy mayor, Pierluigi Altavilla, said his house remained standing, but added: ‘It seemed like a bomb exploded inside.’
The mayor of Castelsantangelo sul Nera said coffins had been pushed out of their resting place inside the walls of cemeteries. The quake comes during a long holiday weekend ahead of All Saint’s Day tomorrow, when Catholics honour the dead.
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, head of the church in Umbria, reportedly urged priests not to hold Mass inside for fear of further collapses. The Apennine mountain region has seen dozens of significant earthquakes, including two jolts last Wednesday which left thousands of people homeless.
There were no reported deaths yesterday, but officials said 20 were injured. Three were reportedly rescued from rubble in Tolentino.
Some 82 miles south-east of the epicentre, there were temporary closures of some of Rome’s tourist sites. Crowds applauded Pope Francis at his Sunday blessing when he prayed for the injured and for rescue workers.
The quake is the biggest since 1980 when a 6.9-magnitude killed around 3,000 people.