Italian earthquake: 40 dead and 50,000 homeless

By Nick Squires in L'Aquila and Gordon Rayner
Last Updated: 1:03PM BST 06 Apr 2009

Rescuers are desperately searching through the rubble for trapped survivors of the 6.3 magnitude tremor, which struck the mountainous Abruzzo region at 3.32am this morning.

Countless buildings have been destroyed in the regional capital of L'Aquila and in neighbouring villages including Paganica, one of the nearest places to the epicentre.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, has declared a state of emergency.

An Italian civil protection official told the BBC that between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings may have been damaged by the earthquake.

Earlier, Massimo Cialente, mayor of Abruzzo capital L'Aquila, said around 100,000 people had left their homes as a result of the damage, and Italian media reported that up to 50,000 people have been made homeless.

He said: "The situation is terrible, really terrible. Many of my fellow citizens are weeping and I, too, have shed a tear."

The death toll from the 'quake rose steadily during the morning as emergency services scrambled to pull many people trapped under thousands of collapsed homes and apartment blocks.

Among the dead were an elderly woman and a baby girl who were pulled from the rubble of their home in the town of Fossa near L'Aquila. Rescue workers were unable to revive them, an Italian news channel reported.

Police also confirmed that five people were killed in the small towns of Castelnuovo, one in Poggio Picenze and one in Tormintarte.

Another four children died in a hospital in the Abruzzo capital L'Aquila, Italian news agency ANSA reported. At least eight people are missing in nearby San Demetrio dei Vestini.

Most of the damage centred on L'Aquila where homes, churches and university buildings had been damaged. During the 30 second tremor, thousands of the city's 70,000 residents ran on to the streets in panic.

Rescue workers were trying to rescue people from collapsed homes, including a student dormitory where a half a dozen students remained trapped inside, RAI state TV reported.

Television footage from the scene showed residents and rescue workers hauling away debris from collapsed buildings and bloodied residents waiting to be tended to in hospital hallways.

The powerful 'quake struck about 60 miles northwest of Rome at a depth of 6.2 miles.

It was felt in the Italian capital, where some residents were woken by the shaking. It was also felt as far south as Naples.

Magnitude-6 earthquakes have the potential to cause severe damage.

It came just hours after a 4.6-magnitude tremor shook Italy's north-central region with no reports of damage.

The epicentre of the quake that occurred at 10:20 pm local time on Sunday near Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region was exceptionally deep at 17 miles.

Because of its depth, the tremor was felt over a wide area, notably in the Marche region further south on the Adriatic coast.

People inland near Bologna, as far north as Trieste and as far south as Aquila also reported feeling the quake, ANSA added.

Powerful earthquakes are relatively rare in Italy.