Severe earthquake of 6.2-magnitude hits Central Italy, Rome

Severe earthquake of 6.2-magnitude hits Central Italy, Rome
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A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit central Italy on Wednesday and was felt in Rome some 150km away, the United States Geological Survey said. 

Rome: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit central Italy on Wednesday and was felt in Rome some 150km away, the United States Geological Survey said.

The quake, struck 10 kilometres (six miles) southeast of Norcia, a town in the province of Perugia in southeastern Umbria at 3.36am (9.36am Singapore time). It was very shallow, only 10km deep, the USGS said.

Strong tremors woke residents in the capital Rome, some 150km from the epicentre of the quake. The USGS initially reported the magnitude of the quake at 6.4.

USGS’s PAGER system, which predicts the impact of earthquakes, has issued a red alert – suggesting significant casualties and damage based on previous quake data.

“It was the worst (quake) of my life” said Matteo Berlenga after leaving his house near Gubbio in the central Italian region of Umbria when the earthquake struck.

The central Italian town of Amatrice was badly damaged, with people trapped under the rubble, the town’s mayor said. “The roads in and out of town are cut off. Half the town is gone,” Sergio Pirozzi, mayor of Amatrice, told RAI state television. “There are people under the rubble... There’s been a landslide and a bridge might collapse.”

Italy's civil protection agency said the earthquake was“severe” and there had been reports of damage, while a refuge on Gran Sasso mountain said on its Facebook page that a large piece of rock collapsed in the quake. Italy’s government is in touch with the agency, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s spokesman said on Twitter.

The spokesman for the Italian fire department, Luca Cari, said they had received reports of buildings being damaged, but had no further details.

A resident of the Rieti region, which is between Rome and the epicentre of the quake, told the Rainews24 channel that she and most of her neighbours had come out onto the street after feeling “very strong shaking”.

A 2009, 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the Aquila region, which was also felt in the Italian capital, left more than 300 dead.

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