The quake is also said to have cut phone and power lines and done damage elsewhere in the mountainous Abruzzo region.
Posted on 04/05/2009 11:13:12 PM PDT by americanophile
ROME, April 6 (UPI) -- At least six people were killed when a strong earthquake struck Monday in Italy, 60 miles northeast of Rome, officials said.
Four of the dead were said to be children, The New York Times reported.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, but ANSA said it was a 5.8 quake, centered at L'Aquila. The quake was felt in Rome and elsewhere in central Italy, ANSA said.
The Italian news agency said there were reports of other injuries, and a report that firefighters were trying to get some people out of a collapsed house. The quake destroyed several buildings and drove many residents into the streets, and one report said the dome of the Church of the Holy Souls in L'Aquila collapsed.
ANSA said a large number of people appeared to be in shock and a relief center had been set up.
Electric and telephone service was said to be disrupted.
Guido Bertolaso, described by ANSA as the head of civil protection, has been in contact with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as well as with local officials.
The quake occurred at 3:32 a.m. local time -- 9:32 p.m. EDT, Sunday -- less than six hours after a separate quake hit northern Italy, CNN reported. At about 10:20 p.m. (4:20 p.m. EDT) Sunday, a 4.6-magnitude quake struck in northern Italy, the USGS said.
Italy has experienced major earthquakes in the past, CNN said, citing the USGS. A 7.2-magnitude quake and a tsunami killed an estimated 72,000 people in 1908 in Messina, Italy, and a 6.5 quake killed 3,000 people in southern Italy in 1980.
NYT Times now reporting 16 dead, thousands homeless and many historic buildings have collapsed or been damaged:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/world/europe/07italy.html?ref=world
Prayers being said.
Here’s some live coverage from SKY TV Italia... (in Italian)
http://www.sky.it/common/tg24_live_697.html
thanks.
Yes, prayers are being sent.
/mark
Per BBC, count is now in the 20s.
“At least 27 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, Italian officials say.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984867.stm
Death toll now at least 50, expected to rise. 50,000 homeless.
bttt
Un-reinforced masonry buildings are about the most dangerous you can have for even a moderate quake like this one. Many of the older buildings there are nothing more than stacked bricks and stone with a little mortar.
Prayers for families.
For those of us observing the times, things are heating up. Murderers running around killing numbers of victims, earthquakes in diverse places, Governments in upheaval - - -
Next?
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Number of large earthquakes worldwide has been about normal in 2009, and please find me a time in the last 2,000 years when governments haven't been in upheaval?
Now 90...and rising.
L'Aquila dogged by earthquakes through 800 year history. Although its origins can be traced back to the early 1200s, much of the city's historic centre dates back to the early 18th Century when it was rebuilt following the last major quake in 1703.
Earlier tremors in 1349, 1461 and 1646 had repeatedly shattered the centre of what was once a powerful medieval city. Among the buildings reported to have been damaged in the latest quake is the cathedral, which was itself completely rebuilt after the 1703 disaster.
I won’t disturb your obviously necessary equanimity.
additional:
Death toll approaching 100 in Italy earthquake
Scientific American | 04/06/2009 | Jordan Lite
Posted on 04/06/2009 8:50:16 AM PDT by BuckeyeTexan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2223358/posts
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