The Lawspeaker
04-06-2009, 05:18 PM
Toll climbs after earthquake hits central Italy
http://images.theage.com.au/2009/04/06/459355/420-quake-420x0.jpg
An Aquila resident searches for relatives through streets almost blocked by rubble. Photo: Reuters
Fifty people are dead and many more are missing after a powerful earthquake tore through central Italy today, devastating mountain towns.
Interior Minister Roberto Moroni told reporters at the scene there were 50 dead. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated and thousands are homeless in the central Abruzzo region. Emergency services scrambled to find victims trapped under thousands of collapsed homes and buildings and warned the toll would rise significantly.
The medieval mountain city of L'Aquila, about 100 kilometres north of Rome, bore the brunt of the quake, which struck just after 3.30am (11.30am AEST).
Sirens blared across the city as rescue workers raced to find people in the rubble. Thousands of the city's 60,000 residents fled into the streets fearing aftershocks.
Hundreds, some in shock and others sobbing, waited outside L'Aquila's main hospital for treatment, ANSA news agency reported. Doctors treated people in the open air as only one operating room was functioning, the agency said. Hospitals in nearby cities were receiving injured by helicopter.
The quake registered 5.8 on the richter scale, according to the national geophysical institute. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.3.
The epicentre was beneath L'Aquila but many surrounding villages are reported to have been razed and fatalities have been confirmed in other towns, including Avezzano.
Residents have described terrifying rumbles and several smaller shocks before the largest hit at 3.32am.
Entire apartment buildings, houses, a student dormitory and the cupolas of major churches have collapsed and emergency services are struggling with the spread of the damage. The Duke of Abruzzi Hotel has been razed and initial estimates suggest up to 15,000 buildngs, small and large, are damaged.
Urgent calls for blood donations have been sent throughout Italy and to other regions while the head of Civil Protection, Guido Bertolaso, who has been charged with overseeing the emergency said the tragedy was unprecedented and its magnitude echoed the scenes in the wake of the earthquake in Umbria.
Il Centro journalist, Vittorio Perfetto, described fleeing his home in the centre of L'Aquila: "We went out, everything was collapsing, it was just rubble, full of rubble. It was so dramatic, we heard it coming, then the shocks, one was 3.2 but then this morning we felt the massive one ... everything moved, the furniture, the ceiling.''
Residents said the shock lasted 20-30 seconds.
Matthew Peacock, who lives with his wife and child in the Umbrian town of Amelia told Britain's Sky television: "It felt like the house was being shaken from the rooftop - my bed was banging against the wall and you could hear this creaking.
"I rushed across the hallway to my son, who's five, grabbed him and stood underneath the doorway. The shaking went on for 20 seconds or so.''
He went on: "The earth really felt like jelly underneath. Dogs outside were making an incredible racket.''
Another Briton living in Monte San Marino, a small town in the Apennine mountain range 100km to the north east of L'Aquila - said he also woke up to find the house shaking.
Barry Raven told Sky News: "It continued to shake for about 30 seconds.
"When you felt it you were thinking 'Is this the beginning or is this the end?'.''
Source: TheAge.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/world/toll-climbs-after-earthquake-hits-central-italy-20090406-9u4t.html?page=1) (link contains a video)
http://images.theage.com.au/2009/04/06/459355/420-quake-420x0.jpg
An Aquila resident searches for relatives through streets almost blocked by rubble. Photo: Reuters
Fifty people are dead and many more are missing after a powerful earthquake tore through central Italy today, devastating mountain towns.
Interior Minister Roberto Moroni told reporters at the scene there were 50 dead. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated and thousands are homeless in the central Abruzzo region. Emergency services scrambled to find victims trapped under thousands of collapsed homes and buildings and warned the toll would rise significantly.
The medieval mountain city of L'Aquila, about 100 kilometres north of Rome, bore the brunt of the quake, which struck just after 3.30am (11.30am AEST).
Sirens blared across the city as rescue workers raced to find people in the rubble. Thousands of the city's 60,000 residents fled into the streets fearing aftershocks.
Hundreds, some in shock and others sobbing, waited outside L'Aquila's main hospital for treatment, ANSA news agency reported. Doctors treated people in the open air as only one operating room was functioning, the agency said. Hospitals in nearby cities were receiving injured by helicopter.
The quake registered 5.8 on the richter scale, according to the national geophysical institute. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.3.
The epicentre was beneath L'Aquila but many surrounding villages are reported to have been razed and fatalities have been confirmed in other towns, including Avezzano.
Residents have described terrifying rumbles and several smaller shocks before the largest hit at 3.32am.
Entire apartment buildings, houses, a student dormitory and the cupolas of major churches have collapsed and emergency services are struggling with the spread of the damage. The Duke of Abruzzi Hotel has been razed and initial estimates suggest up to 15,000 buildngs, small and large, are damaged.
Urgent calls for blood donations have been sent throughout Italy and to other regions while the head of Civil Protection, Guido Bertolaso, who has been charged with overseeing the emergency said the tragedy was unprecedented and its magnitude echoed the scenes in the wake of the earthquake in Umbria.
Il Centro journalist, Vittorio Perfetto, described fleeing his home in the centre of L'Aquila: "We went out, everything was collapsing, it was just rubble, full of rubble. It was so dramatic, we heard it coming, then the shocks, one was 3.2 but then this morning we felt the massive one ... everything moved, the furniture, the ceiling.''
Residents said the shock lasted 20-30 seconds.
Matthew Peacock, who lives with his wife and child in the Umbrian town of Amelia told Britain's Sky television: "It felt like the house was being shaken from the rooftop - my bed was banging against the wall and you could hear this creaking.
"I rushed across the hallway to my son, who's five, grabbed him and stood underneath the doorway. The shaking went on for 20 seconds or so.''
He went on: "The earth really felt like jelly underneath. Dogs outside were making an incredible racket.''
Another Briton living in Monte San Marino, a small town in the Apennine mountain range 100km to the north east of L'Aquila - said he also woke up to find the house shaking.
Barry Raven told Sky News: "It continued to shake for about 30 seconds.
"When you felt it you were thinking 'Is this the beginning or is this the end?'.''
Source: TheAge.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/world/toll-climbs-after-earthquake-hits-central-italy-20090406-9u4t.html?page=1) (link contains a video)