Two strong earthquakes rocked a wide area of central Italy on Wednesday (October 26), striking fear among residents rattled by a deadly tremor in August, but there were no reports of casualties.
The quakes, which struck about two hours apart, caused the collapse of several old structures, including a number of historic rural churches that were empty at the time.
The second quake was measured at 6.0 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey and the first measured 5.4.
Both tremors sent residents running into the streets into the rain and were strong enough to be felt as far south as the outskirts of Naples more than 250 km (150 miles) away. Masonry fell from some buildings in Rome.
Electrical power was lost in some of the areas and some roads were closed.
In Visso, near the epicentre, residents prepared to spend the night out in the open.
Visso Mayor Giuliano Pazzaglini said emergency workers were trying to provide some relief to the distressed residents.
“Unfortunately we’ll need to see what happens, at the moment we are trying to manage the emergency situation and take care of the people who are outside, give them at least the minimum of comfort because they’ve experienced a major shock. So we are trying to at least have some hot drinks available here but it is clear that with so many people it’s difficult to look after them all but that is our priority,” he said.
Three people were unaccounted for, Pazzaglini said, but it was not certain whether they had been in Visso when the quakes struck.
Three locals had minor injuries, the mayor added.
The locals described the terrifying moments the quakes hit the area.
“I was at home, inside, when the first quake hit and then we went out because the earth kept moving all the time. The more serious damage was caused by the second quake,” said Giuseppe Antonini.
“It was something I can’t even begin to describe. We were really scared. Everything started to shake and things started falling down on us. I can’t put it in words,” another resident, Silvio Bettacchi said.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi cancelled engagements to follow developments.
All indications were that the damage would not approach that caused by the major quake that struck the Marche, Lazio and Umbria regions on August 24, which devastated several towns and killed nearly 300 people.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016
