A powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake has hit central Italy on Sunday morning, the United States Geological Survey announced.
Initial reports on the quake’s magnitude varied – while the USGS first reported a 7.1 earthquake before revising that number to 6.6, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said the tremor was magnitude 6.5 or 6.6. Italian media put the number at 6.1.
The USGS said the quake, which struck at 7:40am (local time) was centered 68km east-southeast of Perugia with a depth of 10km.
The latest tremor brought down buildings in several towns but there were no immediate reports on casualties, announced Italy’s Civil Protection Department.
Italy’s Civil Protection boss, Fabrizio Curcio, announced at a press conference in the town of Rieti that “a dozen” people are reported injured, according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa. All the injuries are reported to be minor except for one who is said to be more seriously hurt.
“I SAW HELL BREAK OUT”
“Everything collapsed. I can see columns of smoke, it’s a disaster, a disaster,“ Marco Rinaldi, the mayor of the village of Ussita which also suffered severe destruction last week, told journalists.
“I was sleeping in my car, I saw hell break out,” he was quoted as saying.
“It all came down, now there is no more town,” added Arquata del Tronto’s Mayor, Aleandro Petrucci, adding that there were already “red zones” in place that had been abandoned after the previous quakes.
“The few people who remained have gone out to the streets, and are embracing. Now we’re going around to see what happened,” he said.
Cesare Spuri, Marche’s Civil Protection head, added: “There are collapses everywhere. We report collapses in Muccia, Tolentino and in the areas surrounding Macerata, we’re trying to establish if people are underneath the rubble. There was also a strong shock in Ancona.”
In Rome, the quake caused far more concern than Wednesday’s earthquakes as they were felt much more strongly and for a longer period. The metro in the city has been closed while safety checks are conducted, reported The Guardian.
SAME REGION HIT AGAIN
This comes only three days after two more tremors shook the region on Wednesday, leaving villages partly destroyed.
Italy’s National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks (CGR) cautioned on Friday that more powerful earthquakes were expected to hit the region in the nearest future, identifying at least three areas at risk for further seismic activity.
“There is no current evidence that the [seismic] sequence underway is coming to an end,” the commission warned.
The quakes came two months after almost 300 people were killed in the region by a quake that leveled several small towns.
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