The quake struck at 3:36 a.m. local time with an epicenter 47 miles southeast of Perugia at a depth of 6 miles Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
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“In most cases, unfortunately, the only thing they’re able to retrieve is their bodies and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve seen the death toll rise so much overnight”. The death toll has been revised to 241, but officials stress that number is provisional as the search for victims and survivors continues.
Drone footage filmed by the Italian Fire Department showed the extent of the destruction in Amatrice, as rescuers sifted through the rubble. On Thursday, the sun rose on frightened people who had slept in cars or tents, the earth continuing to tremble under their feet.
Three Britons are among those killed in the natural disaster which has devastated central Italy.
Aided by sniffer dogs and audio equipment, they worked through the night, using their bare hands to pull chunks of cement, rock and metal apart from mounds of rubble, looking for signs of life. “Quiet, quiet”, one rescue worker said, according to The AP, before soon urging her on: “Come on, Giulia, come on, Giulia”.
A tented camp has been set up, as so many buildings are now unsafe.
Dozens of people are believed to be trapped under the rubble in Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto after Wednesday’s shallow quake. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.
Many other children were not so lucky.
Premier Matteo Renzi visited the zone Wednesday, greeted rescue teams and survivors, and pledged that “No family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind”.
The hardest-hit towns were Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, some 50 miles northeast of Rome.
Compounding the problem, numerous oldest and most vulnerable structures are in remote villages inhabited mostly by retired Italians getting by on pensions with no cash to spare. All three regions are dotted with centuries-old buildings susceptible to earthquakes. A few decades later, in 1703, roughly 10,000 people were killed in Norcia, Montereale, L’Aquila and the surrounding Appenine region in three magnitude 6.2-6.7 earthquakes.
Italy, which has the highest seismic hazard in Western Europe, also has thousands of picturesque medieval villages with old buildings that do not have to conform to the country’s anti-seismic building codes.
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The worker then started to encourage her: “Come on, Giulia, come on, Giulia”.
