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Posted by: Tyler 24th August 2016, 04:24 AM

Powerful Earthquake Rattles Rome and Central Italy

http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/tylaaah1/media/A8AFE90F-BF1E-488F-A71B-0D2A46FA7D72_zpsh2lqjnje.jpg.html

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, levelling buildings in several towns as residents slept. The mayor of hard-hit Amatrice said: "The town isn't here anymore."

The quake struck just after 3:30 a.m. and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. First images of damage showed debris in the street and some collapsed buildings in towns and villages that dot much of the Umbrian countryside.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude at 6.1. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.2 with the epicenter at Norcia, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Rome, and with a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The hardest-hit towns were reported as Amatrice, Accumoli and Norcia.

The mayor of Amatrice near Rieti, Sergio Pirozzi, told state-run RAI radio and Sky TG24 that residents were buried under collapsed buildings, that the lights had gone out and that heavy equipment was needed to clear streets covered with debris.

"The town isn't here anymore," he said.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the same region and killed more than 300 people. The earlier earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the latest quake.

-ABC

Devastating news

Been looking for more updates but haven't been able to find them...

Posted by: Cody Raisman 24th August 2016, 05:18 AM

Living in California has made me so alert when it comes to earthquakes. Just seeing news about an earthquake anywhere makes my skin crawl.

Praying for all the victims of the quake, hope Italy can recover from this soon

Posted by: Silas 24th August 2016, 07:46 AM

Omg.

Horrifying news. I really hope that the death count is low. Given the time of the quake and the nature of the buildings it'll probably end up around the 2009 total if not higher. 😢 Devastating.

Posted by: 🍑💦🍌 24th August 2016, 08:06 AM

My boyfriend's mother in currently in the area on holiday so I got a bit scared when I read this. But everything's fine, it wasn't that bad.

Posted by: HausofKubrick 24th August 2016, 08:10 AM

20 are confirmed dead. Really hope it doesn't rise much higher

Posted by: #00274E 24th August 2016, 12:53 PM

obviously rly bad about the casualties rip but as soon as I heard about this my mind went to the buildings

Posted by: HarryEzra 24th August 2016, 01:12 PM

God this sounds terrifying, Poor Italy

Posted by: Mack 24th August 2016, 09:14 PM

Now 120 confirmed to have died. Devastating horrible news to hear.

Posted by: Silas 24th August 2016, 09:20 PM

There's been a quake in Myanmar today as well.

2016 is just a right c**t of a year.

Posted by: Tyler 25th August 2016, 01:01 PM

Terrible news

Hard to find the right words to say when tragedies like this take place.

Posted by: JSG 25th August 2016, 03:10 PM

An Aftershock in Amatrice measuring 4.3 has killed an estimated 240 more people on top of the people that died from the original quake and over 500 are missing. Sad sad days for Italy at the moment. I just hope those affected can resume their lives as soon as they Can but judging by the damage to the majority of Amatrice it's going to be a while!

It really does make you take a step back and think how lucky we are to be living somewhere that is so so safe compared to places like this that experience all these natural disasters!