The provisional death toll from an quake that hit central Italy early Wednesday has risen to 73, the civil protection department said after receiving reports of verified victims, according to ANSA news agency.
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In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude natural disaster struck close to the university city of Aquila in the Abruzzo region and left more than 300 people dead.
By Wednesday evening the death toll in the region had reached 120. They managed to pull out one person. He said the quake was on par with one in L’Aquilla in 2009 that left more than 300 people dead.
“This was very, very bad, I’ve never seen anything like it”, Sabrina Sbermola, a resident of the central Italian town of Arquata el Tronto told the BBC.
Rescue workers called Amatrice residents’ cellphones, and tried to get to those who answered, the affiliate reported.
Addressing the nation Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi thanked emergency services for their swift reaction and said the coming days would be crucial as people continued to be freed from the rubble.
“The situation is dramatic, there are many dead”, said Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi.
Deadly earthquakes have struck Italy in recent years.
A panel on the outside of the convent that recounts its history notes that it was badly damaged by an quake before – back in 1639.
Powerful earthquakes like the 6.2-magnitude temblor that rocked central Italy early this morning (Aug. 24) are surprisingly common in the region, geologists say.
The mayor of nearby Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, described desperate scenes as rescuers raced against time to try to save those beneath the rubble.
In the town of Accumoli, the mayor says at least six people are dead, including a family of four.
Aerial photographs showed whole areas of Amatrice, voted previous year as one of Italy’s most handsome historic towns, flattened by the 6.2 magnitude quake. “We must get down to work.to restore hope to this area which has been so badly hit”, he said in a brief televised address.
The worst hit towns were believed to be Accumoli, Amatrice, Posta and Arquata del Tronto, spokesman for the Italian fire department Luca Cari told Reuters.
Most of the damage was in the Lazio and Marche regions, with Lazio bearing the brunt of the damage and the biggest toll. The tremors were felt as far away as Rome, where thousands of people, myself included, were shaken from their beds, awakened in terror, but alive.
He said he wanted to express his pain and solidarity with the victims. Italy’s national blood drive association appealed for donations to Rieti’s hospital.
In 2009, an quake of similar size and scope hit nearby L’Aquila, killing more than 300 people and almost sending seven scientists to prison for not predicting it.
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A village resident told Rai television that she had been woken by the shaking in time to witness the wall of her bedroom cracking open. Landslides were also likely because the natural disaster struck in a mountainous area, she said.
