An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 rattled a broad Swathe of central Italy, as well as Rome, on Wednesday, just 2 months after a strong temblor toppled villages, killing nearly three hundred people.
A pair of earthquakes rattled central Italy late Wednesday, causing fearful residents running into the streets not far from where a strong temblor killed nearly three hundred people in August.
“It was a very strong earthquake, apocalyptic,”Marco Rinaldi, mayor of the small town of Ussita, told the ANSA news agency. “People are screaming on the street and now we are without lights.”
Rinaldi added, “Many houses have collapsed. Our town is finished.”
“There are collapses,” civil authority Mauro Falcucci of Castelsantangelo, close to the geographic point, was quoted by the independent as saying. The area is “under a deluge” as relief efforts begin, he said.
There were scattered reports of damage to buildings in the region, as well as pieces of masonry crumbling, Ornella de Luca, a spokesperson for Italy’s civil protection agency, told the Associated Press. About sixty aftershocks rocked the area, according to the CBC. The temblors were felt as far away as Rome, more than 90 miles to the south, according to Voice of America.
“All told, the information so far is that it’s not as catastrophic” as it could have been, Fabrizio Curcio, head of Italy’s civil protection agency, was quoted as saying in the Associated Press.
At least 2 people were wounded in the 1st quake, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or others injuries in either event.
The second, more powerful quake measured a magnitude-6.1, and hit nearly 2 hours after the sooner magnitude-5.5 quake, the U.S. geological Survey said. Both were located close to Visso, Italy, about 150 miles northeast of Rome. Both were also relatively shallow, centered half dozen miles below the surface, the USGS reported.
Quakes that rumble near the surface tend to cause more shaking. When coupled with sometimes centuries-old infrastructure, as is the case in many of the hilltop towns of Italy, these quakes can cause significant damage. “They have plenty of old buildings that weren’t constructed at a time with modern seismic codes,”USGS seismologist Paul Earle told AP.
SOURCE: usatoday
Tags
BREAKING NEWS