A 73-year-old man died and at least 10 people have been treated for ‘light’ injuries following two separate earthquakes that rocked central Italy late on Wednesday night.
Italy’s Civil Protection Agency Chief, Fabrizio Curcio, confirmed the fatality as a man who died from a heart attack related to the first quake.
Curcio added that at least 10 people were being treated for ‘slight’ injuries at hospitals across the Umbria and Le Marche regions.
“All told, the information so far is that it’s not as catastrophic,” stated Curcio.
“APOCALYPTIC, OUR TOWN IS FINISHED”
However, Ussita Mayor, Marco Rinaldi, said: “It was a very strong earthquake, apocalyptic. People are screaming on the street and now we are without lights.
“Many houses have collapsed. Our town is finished. The second quake was a long, terrible one.”
Rinaldi added: “The facade of the church collapsed. By now I have felt many earthquakes. This is the strongest of my life. It was something terrible,” he told Sky News’ Italian TV station Sky TG24.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who is on his way to Rome to monitor the situation, tweeted: “I want to thank everyone who is working in heavy rains in areas of the earthquakes. All of Italy embraces the strong communities affected.”
“FELT LIKE BOMBS WERE FALLING”
Serravalle del Chienti Mayor, Gabriele Santamarianova, said that the quake felt “like bombs were falling.”
“We saw a cloud of dust, we don’t yet know what has fallen down. We’ll see once the sun comes up,” added Santamarianova.
Rome’s historic centre was also shaken by the two strong quakes – just two months after a quake in the same area destroyed hilltop villages and killed almost 300.
The town of Amatrice – flattened in the August disaster – also felt the tremors.
Its Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said of Wednesday’s quakes: “We are thanking God that there are no dead and no injured [in Amatrice].”
One resident who lives near St Peter’s Square said she “felt the apartment shaking and the walls cracking,” reported Sky News.
There were reports of panicked residents leaving their homes and rushing onto the streets.
A landslide also forced a section of the Salaria highway north of Rome to close.
A Serie A football match between Pescara and Atalanta was also stopped for several minutes when the tremors started.
EPICENTRE
The first quake’s epicentre measured 5.4-magnitude in Visso, about 100 miles northeast of Rome, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Tremors were felt from Perugia to Rome, and also in the town of L’Aquila – which was hit by a powerful earthquake in 2009 killing over 300 people.
Civil Protection Agency Spokesperson Ornella De Luca said pieces of building had crumbled onto the streets and power lines had fallen.
TIMELINE
The first quake struck at 7.10pm (local time) on Wednesday, with the USGS putting it at a relatively shallow depth of six miles.
The second stronger quake, measuring 6.4 magnitude, struck the region at 9.18pm (local time). Its epicentre was also in Visso, in Italy’s Marche region.
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