Temblors of 5.4 and 6.1 magnitude – both aftershocks to the August quake that killed 300 – cause ‘apocalyptic’ damage to towns but no reported deaths

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Two strong earthquakes rocked central Italy on Wednesday night, causing “apocalyptic” damage to the town of Ussita just two months after a deadly earthquake hit nearby cities and towns, claiming 300 lives.

Italy earthquake: investigation launched as nation mourns Read more

But hours after the temblors hit, there were no reports of serious injuries or signs of people trapped in rubble, said the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio.

A handful of people were treated for slight injuries or anxiety at area hospitals in the most affected regions of Umbria and Le Marche, he said. A 73-year-old man died of a heart attack, possibly brought on by the quakes, local authorities told the ANSA news agency.

“All told, the information so far is that it’s not as catastrophic” as it could have been, Curcio said.

The first quake struck at 7.10pm and could be felt across central Italy and as far south as Caserta. The second, stronger quake, which measured 6.1 on the Richter scale, struck at 9.18pm and could be felt strongly in Rome. The US Geological Survey placed the epicentre near Visso and said it had a depth of 10km.

Both were actually aftershocks to the earthquake on 24 August that struck a broad swath of central Italy, demolishing buildings in three towns and their hamlets, seismologists said.

Television images showed streets filled with rubble from collapsed walls and buildings in the towns of Visso and Ussita.

Ussita’s mayor, Marco Rinaldi, told reporters that the town was “finished” and that the damage was “apocalyptic” in scale but that he was confident that there were no fatalities in the town, although the town’s church, the parish and other buildings suffered heavy damage.

“It was an unheard-of violence. Many houses collapsed,” Rinaldi told Sky TG24. “The facade of the church collapsed. By now I have felt many earthquakes. This is the strongest of my life. It was something terrible.”

Around 200 people in Ussita were sleeping overnight in the streets, given the impossibility of putting up tents so late at night.

“The final count of damages will be done with the first lights of dawn,” Rinaldi told the Associated Press. “It was something. The valley is small, and the fault passes here.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Residents of Visso sleep in makeshift accommodation after two earthquakes hit the village. Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

In nearby Visso, residents wrapped in blankets filled a Red Cross centre, where authorities were setting up makeshift dorms.

“Tomorrow morning we’ll need to get them bathrooms and something to eat. That’s the next thing. Then, of course, we’ll have to start putting up tents,” ayor Giuliano Pazzaglini said.

Mauro Falucci, mayor of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, 11km south of Ussita, said there was no electricity and that people had gathered in the main town square. Some eyewitnesses said people were preparing to spend the night in their cars to avoid going home.

Residents in affected towns reportedly fled their homes after the first quake, a fact that may have prevented more injuries when the second earthquake hit the area about two hours later.

Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, was in Campania when the first earthquake struck but headed back to Rome. He tweeted that “all of Italy is embracing those hit once again”.

Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) Voglio ringraziare chi sta lavorando sotto l'acqua nelle aree del #terremoto. Tutta l'Italia abbraccia forte le popolazioni colpite ancora.

Other places affected by the quake include the towns of Preci and Norcia, where two churches were reportedly destroyed.

Schools will be closed in several towns on Thursday as a precaution, and a handful of hospitals were evacuated after suffering damage.



Wednesday’s temblors were felt from Perugia in Umbria to the capital Rome and as far north as Veneto. It also shook the central Italian city of L’Aquila, which was struck by a deadly quake in 2009. The mayor of L’Aquila, however, said there were no immediate reports of damage there.

In Rome, centuries-old palazzi shook and officials at the foreign ministry were evacuated from the building.



A section of a major state highway north of Rome, the Salaria, was closed near Arquata del Tronto as a precaution because of a quake-induced landslide, said a spokeswoman for the civil protection agency, Ornella De Luca.

The mayor of Amatrice, the hilltop village destroyed in the August quake, said residents had felt Wednesday’s aftershocks. Sergio Pirozzi said: “We are thanking God that there are no dead and no injured.”

Associated Press contributed to this report.