ITALY: Earthquake Kills Dozens, Thousands Trapped

A deadly 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit central Italy early Wednesday, leveling buildings as people slept.


A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, killing 38 people and leaving many trapped beneath therubble of buildings that collapsed while they slept.Italian soldiers and emergency crews were aiding the injured and searching for survivors in the hardest-hit towns of Amatrice,Pescara del Trontoand Accumoli, located close to the epicenter

“The center of Amatrice is completely destroyed,”Nicola Zingaretti,president of the Lazio region, told Italian television.Immacolata Postiglione,head of emergency services for Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, confirmed the death toll, telling reporters in Rome: “There are people still under the rubble, so we fear that this number could rise further.”Local officials said the number of injured from the earthquake was “high” and dozens of people were missing.The quake hit at 3:36 a.m. local time and was felt across most of central Italy, including in Rome and Florence, sending people running into the streets and causing power cuts.The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitudeat 6.2 with the epicenter at Norcia, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) northeast of Rome, with a depth of about 6 miles. The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the earthquake’s magnitude at 6.1.Fabrizio Curcio,head of the Civil Protection Agency, said the severity of the latest quake was comparable to the one thathit the Aquilaregion in 2009, killing more than 300 people. However, the towns involved in Wednesday’s quake are far smaller than Aquila.



The town of Accumoli has about 700 people.Aid workers were bringing food and basic supplies to the hardest-struck towns. Residents of Amatrice, a small town of about 2,600, were huddled together in the town center, wrapped in blankets and awaiting word of survivors. Rising above them was thestone tower bearing a clock, its frozen hands marking the moment the quake hit.Earthquake in Central Italy Leaves Rescuers Searching for Survivors6.2-magnitude earthquake devastates towns in Italy, including Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto and Accumoliof“Half of the town doesn’t exist anymore. It’s atragedy,” MayorSergio Pirozzisaid in an interview with Italian television. The first aid workers struggled to reach the center of the town because of the rubble in the streets.In an interview,Guido Castelli,the mayor of Ascoli Piceno, said 10 people had been confirmed dead in Pescara del Tronto and two other victims, including a young girl, in smaller towns nearby.Rescue efforts at Pescara del Tronto were complicated by damage caused to bridges. Mr. Castelli said that screams of people trapped under the rubble could be heard.Rescuers frame the clock on the Torre Civica in Amatrice, Italy, that stopped at 3:36 a.m. during Wednesday’s earthquake.


Normally, around 50 people live at Pescara del Tronto, but due to summer holidays there could have been at least 300 people there, he added.Italian Prime MinisterMatteo Renzisaid in a tweet that the government was in touch with the Civil Protection Agency. Italian PresidentSergio Mattarellawas returning to Rome fromPalermo to help oversee the rescue operation.At his regular Wednesday audience,Pope Francissaid he was “deeply saddened” by thenews of the earthquake and asked the crowd to join him in praying for the victims.Italy is particularly vulnerable to strong earthquakes, with minor quakes a common occurrence. In 1976, about 1,000 were killed in Friuli in Italy’s north, while nearly 3,000 died in another quake in 1980 whose epicenter was in Irpinia, a mountainous area in southernItaly.—Manuela Mesco and Giovanni Legorano contributed to this article.Corrections & Amplifications:Norcia is about 170 kilometers northeast of Rome. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that it is northwest of Rome.