But Giorgia’s survival is sadly an anomaly so far in the massive rescue operation, involving more than 5,200 rescuers from the National Service of Civil Protection, and many more from outside administrations.
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While hopes of finding more people alive diminished by the hour, firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari recalled that survivors were found in L’Aquila up to 72 hours after that quake.
“We escaped by pure luck, the stairs of the house held and we ran, blindly in the dark and dust”, she said with tears rolling down her face.
The U.S. Geological Survey put its magnitude at 4.7 with the epicenter about 7 kilometers east of Norcia, with a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Lucia Di Gianvito, a 57-year-old house cleaner who lost her home in the quake, said she had no word from the elderly woman who employed her.
But there were wails when bodies emerged.
The settlement of around 20 homes now looks like a ghost town.
The quake was followed by about 200 aftershocks, some quite strong.
Facebook issued a safety check for those potentially affected by the quake.
In April 2009, a 6.3 magnitude quake near the town of L’Aquila killed at least 295 people, injured more than 1,000 and left at least 55,000 homeless.
Some 264 of the wounded have been hospitalized.
Hopes of finding more people alive after Italy’s quake are diminishing by the hour but search teams continue to scour the rubble.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s cabinet was meeting on Thursday to decide emergency measures to help the affected communities. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. (0136 GMT) and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy.
Addressing the nation Wednesday, Renzi vowed to spare no effort in the critical window following the quake when lives could still be saved.
As the shadows lengthened in the park on the outskirts of Amatrice, people sobbed as bodies continued to be carried out of the ruins. Aerial video taken by drones showed swathes of Amatrice, past year voted one of Italy’s most attractive historic towns, completely flattened.
Pirozzi, Amatrice’s mayor, addressed concerns over the town’s collapsed Hotel Roma.
At 5:17 a.m. local time Thursday morning – almost 26 hours after the quake first struck – central Italy was rocked by a 4.7 magnitude aftershock 4.3 miles east of Norcia, according to the USGS.
A firefighter clawed at the debris, trying to get to her.
“It lasted for at least 30 seconds”.
“It was pretty terrifying”, she said.
The university released a statement later, saying the team was headed back to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The country’s most deadly natural disaster since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when an quake followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.
Three minutes later the clock on the village’s 13th-century tower stopped.
“Half of the town doesn’t exist anymore”, Sergio Perozzi, mayor of Amatrice, told RAI-TV. It is popular with Romans seeking cool mountain air at the height of the summer.
Amid the tragedy, some moments of optimism have emerged, including the miraculous rescue of a girl who was trapped in the rubble for more than 17 hours.
Amatrice, known for its traditional all’amatriciana pasta sauce, had been gearing up to hold a festival celebrating the pork jowl, chili and pecorino recipe this weekend, with many visitors expected.
Italy is no stranger to deadly quakes.
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A devastating 6.2 magnitude natural disaster hit central Italy on 24 August which has so far claimed the lives of 250 people.
