April 7, 2009

AP

L'AQUILA, Italy - Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday that 207 people died in the powerful quake that devastated part of central Italy, and that 15 people remained missing.

Photo: An aftershock from the earthquake that struck central Italy earlier this week sent firefighters working on this collapsed university dorm building in L'Aquila scrambling on Tuesday. (AP)

Berlusconi said that at least 100 of the roughly 1,000 injured people were in serious condition. He said 190 of the victims had been identified.

Berlusconi told a press conference after surveying the damage by helicopter that rescue efforts would continue for another 48 hours and trapped people had diminishing chances of survival.

The magnitide-6.3 quake struck the central Italian city of L'Aquila and surrounding villages early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to a pile of rubble and dust.

Aftershock

A 4.9-magnitude aftershock sent rescue workers and survivors scrambling Tuesday morning.

They had been working frantically, scooping through piles of rubble with their hands.

Meantime, tens of thousands of people left homeless by the quake slept in makeshift tents that provided little protection against the chilly mountain air. Scores of survivors lined up for a hot cup of coffee or tea and a brioche.

Workers dug through the night under powerful lights even as aftershocks continued to spook survivors. Mounting piles of rubble contained evidence of shattered lives: torn clothing, ripped stuffed animals and broken furniture.

"All of a sudden I heard a boom, and all the books and knickknacks fell down," said Lucia Ferro, a 57-year-old resident who rushed out of her third-floor apartment wearing only her pajamas. "I saw the walls shake, and the table moved by itself."

The quake hit 26 towns and cities around L'Aquila, which lies in a valley surrounded by the Apennine mountains. The nearby village of Onna was nearly leveled, with 38 people out of some 300 inhabitants dead, rescue officials said. Rescuers were still trying to reach more isolated hamlets on Tuesday.

Students missing

Firefighters with dogs and a crane worked feverishly to reach people trapped in fallen buildings, including a university dormitory where a half-dozen students were believed still trapped. One body was pulled out after daybreak Tuesday, and rescuers continued to dig for three or four still trapped inside, who rescuers feared were dead.

Photo: Two men hug each other as people and volunteers stand amidst debris in the city of L'Aquila, after a strong earthquake rocked central Italy early Monday, April 6, 2009. A powerful earthquake struck central Italy early Monday, killing at least 16 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless, officials and news reports said. Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue crews made their way through the debris. (AP / Pier Paolo Cito)

Overnight, rescuers pulled a scared-looking dog with a bleeding paw out of the dormitory rubble. Relatives and friends of the missing stood wrapped in blankets or huddled under umbrellas in the rain as workers pulled out pieces of what seemed like an armoire, a smashed chair, photographs, wallets and diaries.

Elsewhere in L'Aquila, firefighters reported pulling a 21-year-old woman and a 22-year-man from what was an apartment building where many students rented flats. The building's five stories had pancaked into one slab of concrete.

Officials said some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed, and at least 50,000 people were left homeless.

Italy's national police chief Antonio Manganelli said several people had been arrested for looting from abandoned houses.

Landmark buildings badly damaged

The quake also took a severe toll on L'Aquila's prized architectural heritage. Many Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance landmarks were damaged, including part of the red-and-white stone basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.

The bell tower of the 16th-century San Bernardino church and the cupola of the Baroque Sant'Agostino church also fell, the Culture Ministry said. Stones tumbled down from the city's cathedral, which was rebuilt after a 1703 earthquake.

Damage to monuments was reported as far away as Rome, where cracks appeared at the thermal baths built in the 3rd century by the emperor Caracalla, Culture Ministry official Giuseppe Proietti said.

L'Aquila, a city of some 70,000 that is capital of the Abruzzo region, was near the epicenter about 70 miles northeast of Rome in a quake-prone region that had felt at least nine smaller jolts since the beginning of April. Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put the magnitude at 5.8. More than a dozen aftershocks followed.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up millions in euros to deal with the disaster, and canceled a visit to Russia so he could deal with the crisis.

Condolences poured in from around the world, including from President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI and Abdullah Gul, president of quake-prone Turkey.

Photo: Rescuers save a woman from the rubble of a building on Monday in L'Aquilla, Italy. The earthquake took place in a zone that has experienced at least 0 smaller jolts this month. (AP)

Part of L'Aquila's main hospital was evacuated for fear of collapse, and only two operating rooms were in use. Bloodied victims waited in hospital hallways or in the courtyard and many were being treated in the open.

At one of five tent camps set up, survivors received bread and water. People lay on the grass next to heaps of their belongings.

"It's a catastrophe and an immense shock," said resident Renato Di Stefano, who had moved with his family to the camp as a precaution. "It's struck in the heart of the city, we will never forget the pain."

This was Italy's deadliest quake since Nov. 23, 1980, when a 6.9-magnitude quake hit southern regions, leveling villages and causing some 3,000 deaths.

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, of which 27 were children who died when their school collapsed.

DEADLY EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY'S RECENT HISTORY

April 6, 2009:

6.3-magniture temblor wracks medieval town of L'Aquila and surrounding area in central Apennines, killing more than 150 people and injuring 1,500.

Oct. 31, 2002:

5.4-magnitude quake strikes south-central Molise region, killing 28 people, including 27 children who die when their school collapses.

Sept. 26, 1997:

5.5-magnitude quake in Umbria region kills 10 people and devastates medieval buildings and churches, including Assisi's famed basilica.

Dec. 13, 1990:

4.7-magnitude quake hits eastern Sicily, killing 17 people and damaging baroque buildings in the region.

Nov. 23, 1980:

6.9-magnitude quake strikes southern regions, leveling villages and causing some 3,000 deaths.

May 6, 1976:

6.1-magnitude hits northeastern region of Friuli, killing around 1,000 people.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30083979/

www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Earth_Changes/090407.IT.EQ.html

• Go Back

Related in this Category