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Strong quake hits Italy, injuries feared in Aquila

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-06 10:14

L'AQUILA, Italy – Carabinieri police officials say at least 20 people have died in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless.

Officials say the death toll is likely to rise as rescue crews make their way through the debris. Firefighters aided by dogs were trying to rescue people from crumbled homes, including a student dormitory where half a dozen students remained trapped, RAI state TV reported.

File picture of a seismograph. A strong earthquake shook central Italy on Monday, causing buildings to collapse in the old town of Aquila in the Abruzzo region, the ANSA news agency reported. [Agencies]

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put the quake's magnitude at 5.8, though the US Geological Survey said it was 6.3.

Officials said the quake struck about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Rome at 3:32 am local time (0132 GMT). The Civil Protection Department said the epicenter was near the city of L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region.

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A student who was not identified told RAI they were awakened by the quake and ran down the stairs of the dorm before the roof collapsed.

By early morning, the death toll stood at 16, including five children, with some 30 people unaccounted for, the ANSA news agency reported, citing the Civil Protection Department. The town of Castelnuovo appeared particularly hard hit, with five of the 16 dead there.

"It's the worst tragedy since the start of the millennium," said Guido Bertolaso, the head of the Civil Protection Department.

Residents and rescue workers were hauling away debris from collapsed buildings by hand while bloodied victims waited to be tended to in hospital hallways.

"We left as soon as we felt the first tremors," said Antonio D'Ostilio, 22, as he stood on a street in L'Aquila with a huge suitcase piled with clothes he had thrown together. "We woke up all of a sudden and we immediately ran downstairs in our pajamas."

Map locating the epicentre of a 6.3-magnitude quake in central Italy. At least 20 people were killed in an earthquake that struck central Italy as most people lay sleeping, and the death toll was expected to rise as many homes collapsed in the Abruzzo region. [Agencies]

Nearby, firefighters successfully pulled a woman covered in dust from the debris of her four-story home. Rescue crews demanded quiet as they listened for signs of life from other people believed still trapped inside.

Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged.

"This means that the we'll have several thousand people to assist over the next few weeks and months," Miozzo told Sky Italia. "Our goal is to give shelter to all by tonight."

Four children died in L'Aquila after their houses collapsed, ANSA said. They quoted doctors at the main San Salvatore dell'Aquila hospital as saying there was nothing they could do for them.

ANSA said the dome of a church in L'Aquila collapsed, while the city's cathedral also suffered damages.

L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said some 100,000 people had left their homes and that many buildings in the city's historic center were damaged.

A series of jolts have struck the area over the past two days.

L'Aquila, a medieval city, lies in a valley surrounded by the Apennine mountains. It is the regional capital of the Abruzzo region, with about 70,000 inhabitants.

Bertolaso likened Monday's quake to the temblors that struck the central Umbria region on Sept. 26, 1997. That quake killed 10 people and devastated medieval buildings and churches, including Assisi's famed basilica, across the region.

The last major quake to hit central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.