AN EARTHQUAKE STRUCK AND DESTROYED MOST OF AN ANCIENT TOWN in central Italy this morning, leaving scores dead and the town of L’Aquila in shambles. It occurred in a region known as the Abruzzo, a scenic, hilly area popular with tourists because of its villages and churches dating back to the Middle Ages.
The 6.3 scale quake began around 3:30 am while people were in bed and shook a wide region just east of Rome. Hundreds of buildings, some of them several centuries old, were destroyed and untold numbers of residents have been killed. It is estimated that at least 10,000 people have been left homeless.
The Associated Press has a pre-dawn video report:
AFP has some raw footage after daybreak:
The Los Angeles Times writes:
After the shaking finally subsided, buildings that had stood for hundreds of years lay in ruins, cries for help could be heard from beneath the rubble and thousands of people were out in the streets bracing for aftershocks.
Throughout the morning, rescuers dug frantically through twisted metal and shattered masonry to reach trapped victims. Among the collapsed buildings was a student dormitory, while L’Aquila’s cathedral and the dome of another church were also reported damaged. Television news footage showed a four-story structure that had pancaked.
Immediately the residents began clawing through the rubble by hand in attempts to rescue their neighbors, many of whom could be heard calling for help. The most-injured victims are unable to receive timely medical treatment because the hospitals in the region also suffered major structural damages.
Somehow, cell phone service always survives. (Reuters)
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