A series of earthquakes hit central Italy on January 18, as the region shivers in freezing temperatures.
The biggest 5.4-magnitude quake struck at 10:25 local time, with other two following. They hit the same area devastated by quakes in August 2016.
Shockwaves were felt in Rome, 60 miles to the south-west.
Almost 300 people died in the mountainous region around Amatrice in 2016. There are no reports so far of any injuries in the latest quakes.
Image source USGS
The latest quakes mainly affected three neighboring regions – Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche.
Two tremors of more than magnitude 5 hit within an hour of the first, and seismic organizations have recorded strong aftershocks since in the epicenter area some 10km south of Amatrice.
They follow some 36 hours of steady snowfall in areas around Amatrice and Norcia, which is said to be hampering emergency services’ attempts to reach affected areas. In some areas, avalanche warnings have been issued.
Schools that were not already closed in the worst-hit areas were evacuated. Rome’s underground system was shut as a safety precaution.
Two new earthquakes have hit central Italy, shaking buildings in Rome.
According to US Geological Survey, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 17:10 GMT south of Visso in the province of Macerata. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
It was followed just over two hours later by even more powerful quake.
The tremors come two months after a powerful earthquake struck slightly to the south, killing 295 people.
Image source Wikipedia
The 6.2 magnitude quake, on August 24, toppled buildings in villages in the mountainous region around Amatrice.
Amatrice is just 37 miles away from the epicenter of today’s first earthquake.
People in the towns of Pescara, Ancone and L’Aquila rushed out of their homes in panic as the ground shook.
The earthquakes rattled doors and windows in Rome, reports said. The mayor of one town said residents were without power, and there were reports of damaged buildings.
A section of a highway north of Rome was closed due to a landslide, said Ornella De Luca, a spokeswoman for Italy’s civil protection agency.
PM Matteo Renzi is on his way to Rome, local media report.
The first earthquake was relatively shallow, at a depth of nearly 6 miles.
Charlie Hebdo comes under fire on social media for publishing a cartoon depicting Italian earthquake victims as pasta dishes.
The cartoon which features in the satirical French magazine’s current issue refers to the town of Amatrice, one of the areas hardest hit by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake last week.
Amatrice is home of spaghetti all’amatriciana, a dish with ingredients including tomato sauce, and guanciale ham.
Photo Charlie Hebdo
The cartoon shows an injured man and a woman standing next to a pile of rubble from which feet can be seen. Each of the standing figures has been named after a pasta dish.
The bandaged man is shown under the words penne tomato sauce, a woman with burns is depicted as penne gratin, and bodies lying beneath layers of rubble as lasagna all beneath the heading “Earthquake Italian style”.
The image which is being circulated on social media has attracted huge criticism globally and in Italy it has made the pages of Italian national newspapers La Stampa and Corriere della Serra.
Photo Facebook
The French embassy in Italy released a statement saying the cartoons were not representative of France’s position.
It is not the first time hashtag #CharlieHebdo has been used on social media to express outrage at one of its cartoons.
Charlie Hebdo is no stranger to criticism. In 2015 it published a controversial cartoon of the young Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi who drowned while fleeing Syria and has also posted controversial sketches of the Prophet Muhammad.
Italy held a state funeral for 37 victims of the last week’s 6.2-magnitude earthquake.
The ceremony has been held in the town of Amatrice, which bore the brunt of the disaster.
Coffins of the victims, including those of two children, were laid out in a marquee on the edge of the town.
The venue was chosen at the last minute after relatives rejected a plan for the funeral to be held in a hangar in Rieti, about 40 miles away.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella were among the mourners.
Photo AP
Of the 292 people known to have died in the earthquake, 242 were from Amatrice or nearby Accumoli.
Today’s funeral Mass in Amatrice began with the names of the victims being read out. Many families were overcome with grief during the ceremony.
In an address, Bishop of Rieti Domenico Pompili urging leaders present not to allow “political quarrels” to delay reconstruction.
“If we abandon these villages, we will kill them for a second time,” he said.
Most victims were Italian, but several foreigners were among those killed.
Romania’s PM Dacian Ciolos attended the funeral to honor the 11 Romanians who died in the earthquake, most of them in Amatrice.
Teams of workers are still searching the rubble in the town for up to 10 people still missing, presumed dead.
It was the second state funeral held for earthquake victims. Another was held on August 27 for 50 people killed in the neighboring Le Marche region.
Italy is to build wooden chalet-style huts within three months for the 2,500 people displaced by the earthquake, Italian media reported.
Authorities want to get survivors into safe, warm accommodation before winter arrives in the mountainous central region.
PM Matteo Renzi discussed reconstruction plans on August 28 with Renzo Piano, one of Italy’s most renowned architects.
There has been criticism in the Italian press over building standards in high-risk areas. Some of the buildings that collapsed had recently been renovated.
Italy has held state mass funeral for some of the 290 people killed in August 24 powerful earthquake.
Thirty-five victims from the town of Arquata were mourned at a sports hall in the regional capital, Ascoli Piceno.
The death toll from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake, which struck a mountainous central region, has again risen as more bodies were found.
Italian PM Matteo Renzi was among those attending the funeral along with President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier visited Amatrice, the town with the most casualties.
One of the children’s coffins contained the body of Giulia Rinaldo, whose younger sister survived the earthquake because she was under Giulia’s body.
Photo Getty Images
One of the firefighters, Andrea, had left a moving note on Giulia Rinaldo’s coffin, apologizing for arriving too late, and signing it with a heart symbol.
The coffins will be taken for burial to a cemetery near Arquata, a local official told Ansa news agency.
Most of the earthquake’s victims were Italian, but several foreigners were among those killed.
More aftershocks were registered in the early hours of August 27, one with a magnitude of four.
The ground beneath Accumoli, another severely affected village, sank 8in as a result of the earthquake, satellite images obtained by Italy’s scientific authorities show.
The district which sank is shown in red on this image compiled from data from a Japanese satellite and published by Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
Flags are flying at half mast across the country as Italy remembers victims of the quake.
More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone. Along with Arquata and Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto was also hard-hit.
Many bodies have also been brought to a makeshift morgue in an aircraft hangar in the city of Rieti, where relatives have been identifying loved ones.
The first funeral for one of the earthquake’s victims was held on August 26, for the son of a state official who died in Amatrice.
At least 388 people have been treated in hospital for their injuries while more than 2,000 people were made homeless.
The earthquake hit in the early hours of August 24, 65 miles north-east of Rome.
Italy’s government has been criticized for failing to prevent deaths after the 2009 earthquake in nearby L’Aquila left 300 dead.
Historic towns do not have to conform to anti-quake building regulations, which are also often not applied when new buildings are put up.
In addition to emergency funds, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi canceled taxes for residents and announced a new initiative, “Italian Homes”, to tackle criticism over shoddy construction.
Matteo Renzi also said that it was “absurd” to think that Italy could build completely quake-proof buildings.
A state of emergency has been declared in Italy’s regions worst hit by August 24 earthquake as hopes of finding more survivors fade.
Italian PM Matteo Renzi has pledged €50 million in funds for rebuilding.
At least 268 people are now reported dead and 400 were injured. Rescue teams have continued to search the rubble of toppled buildings for a second night.
However, hundreds of aftershocks have hampered the efforts of the 5,000 rescuers.
Another magnitude-4.7 tremor struck on August 26.
In addition to the funds, Matteo Renzi canceled taxes for residents and announced a new initiative, “Italian Homes”, to tackle criticism over shoddy construction.
Photo ANSA
He also said that it was “absurd” to think that Italy could build completely quake-proof buildings.
The move follows criticism in the Italian media over building standards in high-risk areas. Some of the buildings that collapsed had recently been renovated.
Historic towns do not have to conform to anti-quake building regulations, which are also often not applied when new buildings are put up.
The 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit in the early hours of August 24, 65 miles north-east of Rome in mountainous central Italy.
The worst affected towns – Amatrice, Arquata, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto – are usually sparsely populated but have been swelled by tourists visiting for summer, making estimates for the precise number missing difficult.
More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone.
Bodies are still being found in the town, including one discovered in the rubble of the Hotel Roma in the city on August 25.
An official with the fire department, Lorenzo Botti, admitted they were facing a race against time.
However, other rescuers said there was still hope, noting that one survivor was pulled from ruins in L’Aquila in 2009 three days after an earthquake that killed more than 300 people.
Search teams have asked locals to disable their Wi-Fi passwords to help rescue workers communicate more effectively.
Police have also arrested a man for attempting to break into and loot an empty home in the town, Ansa reported.
Italy’s earthquake death toll has risen to at least 247 as thousands of rescuers continue efforts to find survivors.
According to officials, dozens are believed trapped in ruined Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto, in mountainous central Italy.
The search went on through the night, and there was a strong aftershock which rocked already damaged buildings.
More than 4,300 rescuers are using heavy lifting equipment and their bare hands.
Many of the victims were children, the health minister said, and there were warnings the toll could rise further.
The 6.2-magnitude quake hit at 03:36 local time on August 24, at 65 miles north-east of Rome.
Photo Getty Images
There were several hundred tremors after the quake, some of which were felt in Rome.
The latest death toll was given on Thursday morning – 190 deaths in Rieti province and 57 in neighboring Ascoli Piceno province.
Rescuers said they had pulled five bodies from the ruins of the Hotel Roma in the historic town of Amatrice. As many as 70 tourists were staying at the hotel when the quake struck. Many are feared to be in the rubble, though several were pulled out and given medical care.
Yesterday there were cheers in the village of Pescara del Tronto when a young girl was pulled alive from the rubble after being trapped for 17 hours. Almost all the houses there had collapsed, the mayor said.
The earthquake struck small towns and villages in the mountainous area where the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet.
Italy’s earthquake death toll has risen to at least 120, PM Matteo Renzi has said.
Other 368 people have been injured in the earthquake that hit a mountainous area of central Italy, he added.
The 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 03:36 local time, 65 miles north-east of Rome, not far from Perugia.
Many of the dead were in the historic town of Amatrice, where the mayor said three-quarters of the town was destroyed, and in nearby Accumoli.
Many people are still believed to be buried under rubble.
“This is not a final toll,” Matteo Renzi warned as he gave the latest figures.
The prime minister had earlier paid tribute to the volunteers and civil defense officials who had rushed to the scene in the middle of the night and used their bare hands to dig for survivors.
Photo ANSA
He promised “no family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind”.
The earthquake was felt across Italy, from Bologna in the north to Naples in the south. There have been dozens of aftershocks.
Hardest hit were the small towns and villages in the mountainous area where the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet.
Italy’s civil protection department said that at least 73 people were now known to have been killed.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said it had recorded more than 200 aftershocks by 15:00 on August 24.
Italy is no stranger to earthquakes: in 2009 a tremor killed more than 300 people in L’Aquila and in May 2012 two tremors nine days apart killed more than 20 people in the northern Emilia Romagna region.
Rescue teams from around the country have been sent to the affected region.
The area is mountainous and access is difficult. Tent camps are being set up for those who need shelter, while others will be accommodated in buildings such as gymnasiums.
Many of the people affected are on holiday.
The national blood donation service has appealed for donors to come forward.
Mediterranean seismicity is driven by the great collision between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates; but when it comes down to the specifics of this latest quake, the details are far more complicated.
The Tyrrhenian Basin, or Sea, which lies to the west of Italy, between the mainland and Sardinia/Corsica, is slowly opening up.
Scientists say this is contributing to extension, or “pull-apart”, along the Apennines. This stress is compounded by movement in the east, in the Adriatic.
The result is a major fault system that runs the length of the mountain range with a series of smaller faults that fan off to the sides. The foundations of cities like Perugia and L’Aquila stand on top of it all.
At least 37 people are reported and dead and many others trapped under rubble after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has hit central Italy.
Many of the dead were in the village of Pescara del Tronto which was leveled to the ground and there were fears the number could rise.
Much of the town of Amatrice was reduced to rubble and a family of four is feared dead nearby in Accumoli.
The earthquake hit at 03:36 local time, 65 miles north-east of Rome.
Although it struck at a shallow depth of 6 miles, its intensity was compared to the Aquila earthquake in April 2009 in which 309 people died. The epicenter was around Accumoli where several people died.
Some buildings in Rome shook for 20 seconds as the quake struck an area between the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Marche. The tremor was also felt from Bologna in the north to Naples in the south.
Photo AFP
The highest casualties were reported in the small village of Pescara del Tronto, where 10 people were reported dead, among them children. Other 20 people have been taken to hospital.
Two boys aged 4 and 7 were pulled alive from the rubble of the house they had been staying in with their grandmother, Ansa news agency reported. Rescuers said they had been sheltering under a bed.
More damage was reported a short distance up the road in Arquata del Tronto.
Some of the worst damage was in the town of Amatrice, where at least five died and rescue efforts were under way to find survivors.
The main street through the town has been devastated and emergency workers are trying to reach six people in a collapsed building.
In Accumoli, a short distance to the north, Mayor Stefano Petrucci said one person had been pulled out of the rubble during the night.
Seismologist Andrea Tertulliani said there were sure to be further, numerous shocks that would probably diminish in intensity.
Italy’s Civil Protection agency described the earthquake as “severe”.
Rescue teams are being sent to the worst-hit areas, the prime minister’s office said.
The earthquake was initially reported as being magnitude 6.4. It was followed by several powerful aftershocks, La Repubblica reported.
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