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Rescue workers carry an injured woman away from her house in Aquila, Italy - Source: Reuters -
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A powerful earthquake struck a huge swathe of central Italy as
residents slept on Monday, killing at least 50 people when
houses, churches and other buildings collapsed.
The dead were mainly in L'Aquila, a 13th century mountain city
about 100 km east of Rome that has a population of 68,000, and
surrounding villages.
The Civil Protection Department said the quake most likely killed
"tens of people". Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cancelled a trip
to Moscow and said he had declared a national emergency, which
would free up funds for aid and rebuilding.
"I woke up hearing what sounded like a bomb," said Angela Palumbo,
87, as she walked on a street of L'Aquila.
"We managed to escape with things falling all around us. Everything
was shaking, furniture falling. I don't remember ever seeing
anything like this in my life," she said.
Rubble was strewn throughout the city and nearby towns, blocking
roads and hampering rescue teams and residents who tried to lift
debris with their bare hands in a search for survivors from the
quake, which had a magnitude of at least 5.8.
"Thousands of people (could be left) homeless and thousands of
buildings collapsed or damaged," said Agostino Miozzo, an official
at the Civil Protection Department.
A resident in l'Aquila standing by an apartment block that had been
reduced to the height of an adult said: "This building was four
storeys high." Some cars were buried by the rubble.
In another section of the city, residents tried to hush the wailing
of grief to try to pinpoint the sound of a crying baby.
It was the worst earthquake in terms of deaths to hit Italy since
2002, when 30 children were killed in a school collapse in the
south.
But officials said the death toll from this earthquake could be
worse because more buildings were damaged over a wider
area.
Four children killed in one building
Four children were reported killed in one building in l'Aquila, two
people were dead in one outlying village and five in another. A
number of people were reported to have been injured and still
trapped under rubble, officials said.
There were numerous reports of some the area's centuries-old
Romanesque and Renaissance churches collapsing.
Part of a university residence and a hotel collapsed in l'Aquila
but it was not clear if anyone was inside. The quake brought down
the bell tower of a church in the city centre.
Some bridges and highways in the mountainous area were closed as a
precaution.
The quake struck shortly after 1.30pm (NZT) and was centred in the
mountainous Abruzzo region east of Rome.
People in many parts of central Italy felt the quake and some ran
out into the streets. Residents of Rome, which is rarely hit by
seismic activity, were woken by the quake. Furniture rattled,
lights swayed and car alarms went off.
The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was believed to
be about 95 km from Rome and that its depth was 10 km.
The agency initially put the scale of the quake at 6.7 but later
lowered it to 6.3. Italian officials put the magnitude at about
5.8.
The quake was the latest and strongest in a series to hit the
l'Aquila area on Sunday and Monday. Earthquakes can be particularly
dangerous in parts of Italy because so many buildings are
centuries-old.
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