Strong Earthquake Hits Italy; At Least 70 Dead

by The Associated Press
NPR.org, April 6, 2009

Filippo Montefore
A police officer stands in the center of L'Aquila, capital of Italy's Abruzzo region, where an earthquake struck Monday. AFP/Getty Images

Vincenzo Pinto
People walk amid the rubble in L'Aquila, where debris is strewn about the streets and a gray dust carpets sidewalks, cars and residents after Monday's quake. AFP/Getty Images

A powerful earthquake in mountainous central Italy knocked down whole blocks of buildings early Monday as residents slept, killing at least 70 people and trapping many more, officials said. Thousands were homeless.

The earthquake's epicenter was about 70 miles northeast of Rome near the medieval city of L'Aquila. It struck at 3:32 a.m. local time in a quake-prone region that has had at least nine smaller jolts since the beginning of April. The U.S. Geological Survey said Monday's quake was magnitude 6.3, but Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8.

Interior Minister Roberto Moroni, arriving in L'Aquila hours after the quake, said 50 people had been killed.

Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue crews clawed through the debris of fallen homes.

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. Slabs of walls, twisted steel supports, furniture and wire fences were strewn about the streets and a gray dust carpeted sidewalks, cars and residents.

As ambulances screamed through the city, firefighters aided by dogs worked feverishly to reach people trapped in fallen buildings, including a student dormitory where a half-dozen university students were believed to be inside.

Outside the half-collapsed dorm, tearful young people huddled together, wrapped in blankets, some still in their slippers after being roused from sleep by the quake.

"We managed to come down with other students, but we had to sneak through a hole in the stairs as the whole floor came down," said student Luigi Alfonsi, 22. "I was in bed — it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me."

The town of Castelnuovo also appeared hard hit, with five confirmed dead there.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster. He canceled a visit to Russia and planned to go to L'Aquila to deal with the crisis.

Residents and rescue workers hauled away debris from collapsed buildings by hand.

Firefighters 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.

Parts of L'Aquila's main hospital were evacuated because they were at risk of collapse, forcing the wounded to be treated in the open air or taken elsewhere.

Bloodied victims waited to be tended to in hospital hallways or outside in the hospital courtyard. Only two operating rooms were working. Civil protection crews were erecting a field hospital to deal with the influx of wounded.

On the city's dusty streets, as aftershocks continued to rumble through, residents hugged one another, prayed quietly or frantically tried to call relatives. Residents covered in dust pushed carts full of clothes and blankets that they had hastily packed before fleeing their homes.

"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."

Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged. He said stadiums and sporting fields were being readied to house the homeless.

"This means that 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."

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

The Israeli Embassy in Rome said officials were trying to make contact with a few Israeli citizens believed to be in the region who had not been in touch with their families. Embassy spokeswoman Rachel Feinmesser did not give an exact number.

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

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

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102775903&ft=1&f=1004

Italy earthquake kills more than 90 and leaves thousands homeless

Amazing video on this link
Italy hunts for quake survivors

I hope that things don't get to bad and that there are no strong aftershocks

Anyone else have any more info on the earthquakes?