Seismic triple-punch
Three earthquakes hit central Italy, bringing fresh terror to residents still reeling from last August’s devastating temblor.
Rome: Three earthquakes hit central Italy in a seismic triple-punch that brought fresh terror to a snowbound mountainous area still reeling from deadly quakes last year.
The epicentres were all close to the town of Amatrice, where nearly 300 people died in an earthquake in August. There were no reports of casualties in the three hours after yesterday’s first shock struck at 10.25am.
Monitors put its strength at between 5.1 and 5.3 magnitude. A second, 50 minutes later, was measured at 5.7 by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and 5.4 by Italy’s INGV. Both monitors noted the third, minutes later, at 5.3.
The Italian Red Cross said dozens of people were trapped by the snow in their homes and that it had received reports of building collapses in hamlets near Amatrice.
“Happily there have been no victims,” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said at a press conference in Berlin.
The tremors were felt across the Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche regions and powerfully enough in Rome, over 100km away to send some panicked parents scrambling to schools to collect their children.
Centuries-old papal palaces in the capital showcased the mastery of their Renaissance architects by swaying gently to absorb the tremors.
Train services on some mainlines and the Rome underground were briefly suspended but resumed after safety checks.
Some schools in Rome and all those open in the quake zones were evacuated.
Residents of the city of Aquila, where over 300 people died in a 2009 earthquake, rushed into the snow-covered streets in scenes of panic but the mayor said there had been no building collapses there.
In Amatrice, the belltower of the 15th Century Church of Sant’Agostino crumbled. It had been badly damaged by the first of the earthquakes which struck the mountainous centre of the country between August and October last year.
Most of those who died in that 6.0 magnitude were in Amatrice, a beauty spot which was packed with holidaymakers at the height of the summer season.
Two further quakes rattled the region in October, with the most powerful measuring 6.5 magnitude. — AFP