L'AQUILA, Italy – A powerful earthquake in mountainous central Italy knocked down whole blocks of buildings early Monday as residents slept, killing at least 50 people and trapping many more, officials said.

 

Tens of thousands were homeless.

The earthquake's epicenter was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Rome near the medieval city of L'Aquila. It struck at 3:32 a.m. local time (0132 GMT, EDT Sunday) in a quake-prone region that has had at least nine smaller jolts since the beginning of April.

 

The U.S. Geological Survey said Monday's quake was magnitude 6.3, but Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, arriving in L'Aquila hours after the quake, said at least 50 people had been killed and that the toll was likely to rise as rescue crews clawed through the debris of fallen homes.

L'Aquila is the capital of the Abruzzo region and lies in a valley surrounded by the Apennine mountains. The quake hit 26 towns and cities in the area. Castelnuovo, a hamlet of about 300 people 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of L'Aquila, appeared hard hit, and five were confirmed dead there.

 

L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said about 100,000 people were homeless. It was not clear if that estimate included surrounding towns. Some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed, officials said.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster, and canceled a visit to Russia so he could deal with the quake crisis.

 

Condolences poured in from around the world, including from President Barack Obama and President Abdullah Gul, president of quake-prone Turkey.

In L'Aquila, slabs of walls, twisted steel supports, furniture and wire fences were strewn about the streets and gray dust carpeted sidewalks, cars and residents.

As ambulances screamed through the city, firefighters aided by dogs worked feverishly to reach people trapped in fallen buildings, including a student dormitory where half a dozen university students were believed still inside.

Outside the half-collapsed building, tearful young people huddled together, wrapped in blankets, some still in their slippers after being roused from sleep by the quake.

 

"We managed to come down with other students but we had to sneak through a hole in the stairs as the whole floor came down," said student Luigi Alfonsi, 22. "I was in bed — it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me."

Residents and rescue workers hauled away debris from collapsed buildings by hand. Firefighters pulled a woman covered in dust from the debris of her four-story home. Rescue crews demanded quiet as they listened for signs of life from other people believed still trapped inside.

A body lay on the sidewalk, covered by a white sheet.

Parts of L'Aquila's main hospital were evacuated because they were at risk of collapse, and only two operating rooms were in use. Bloodied victims waited in hospital hallways or in the courtyard and many were being treated in the open. A field hospital was being set up. Health Minister Maurizio Sacconi urged Italians to donate blood.

 

Many of L'Aquila's modern buildings were damaged and the mayor said the historic center also suffered damage; access to the historic center was blocked. The Italian news agency ANSA said L'Aquila's cathedral was damaged and the dome of a church had collapsed.

In the dusty streets, as aftershocks rumbled through, residents hugged one another, prayed quietly or frantically tried to call relatives. Residents covered in dust pushed carts full of clothes and blankets that they had thrown together before fleeing their homes.

 

"We left as soon as we felt the first tremors," said Antonio D'Ostilio, 22, as he stood on a street in L'Aquila with a huge suitcase piled with clothes. "We woke up all of a sudden and we immediately ran downstairs in our pajamas."

Stadiums and sporting fields were being readied to house the homeless, Civil Protection official Agostino Miozzo said.

 

"This means that the we'll have several thousand people to assist over the next few weeks and months," Miozzo told Sky Italia. "Our goal is to give shelter to all by tonight."

 

At least one student from Greece was trapped in the debris and another was injured, the Greek Foreign Ministry said. Greece offered to send a rescue team to help, the ministry said.

 

The Israeli Embassy in Rome said officials were trying to make contact with a few Israeli citizens believed to be in the region who had not been in touch with their families. Embassy spokeswoman Rachel Feinmesser did not give an exact number.

The last major quake to hit central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.

Earlier, the mayor of L'Aquila, Massimo Cialente, said some 100,000 people had left their homes.

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090406/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_earthquake

a friend of me is there on holiday now. :shocked3:

and i have many friends there and i can't reach them

My Italian friends.... :worried:

I know Nico's okay, i've seen him online...

I'm glad to hear that.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L6566682.htm

 

According to this, an Italian scientist saw it coming... and they tried to get him to shut up.

I've seen that on the news today :( :cry:

Poor Italy. :cry: I hope all our Italian Coldplayers are OK...

this is absolutely terrible! i have some old family roots to there. i hope everyone is alright and my heart goes out to all the people affected by this. :bigcry:

R.I.P. :(

more than 200 people killed. It's sad things like this still happen today. :sad:

R.I.P for all 200+ killed :sad:

Omg, I just heard about the 98 year old lady who survived the earthquake and waited for rescue for 48 hours while knitting!

this is really terrible. my mother's friend is in holiday now there, and we still dont know about her yet until now :(

 

btw, im making an article about this topic for my school magazine as inter local news. any links about this news for details? because i have to write about 1 page or more. but now, im still in a half page and have no idea about it....

 

R.I.P :(

i can suggest you http://www.corriere.it/english/ the main newspaper in italy

 

all the coldplayer members in our italian coldplay site are ok...they are scared, maybe someone without home but alive

i can suggest you http://www.corriere.it/english/ the main newspaper in italy

 

all the coldplayer members in our italian coldplay site are ok...they are scared, maybe someone without home but alive

 

glad to hear that, thank u so much, mate

thank you so much for your care.. L'Aquila now is a ghost city...the major "closed" the city and said to run away from every house... maybe the worst thing after the victims are the non stop of the earthquakes: about one hour ago another small quake: 3.1 richter...and i'm sure for those people it's terrible because every quake keeps the mind to that bad day :(

i cant even imagine a thing like that in my place :( i'm proud portugal is one of the many countries sending help to our italian fellows, i would go too if i could lol. and a portuguese girl got very injured, she was in l'aquila studying with erasmus... god my heart fell when i heard the news, i immediately ran to msn, was so worried.

thanks a lot to Portugal and all nations...really... i've two childhood friends there (in addition to some internet friends) because i went there to seaside...so i can't believe all is happened..too big

 

oh you have an erasmus' friend there...injuried O_o omg..i really hope she can heal very soon..

no no, she's not my friend, i heard it on the news... thanks anyways :D

ah ok :) however on that italian researcher who said two weeks ago "sunday 29th march there will be a big earthquake in Sulmona near L'Aquila" i want to express my opinion: for me he was wrong to say an exact day and place..he could take more cautions...because if his instruments could expect an earthquake for that sunday in Sulmona (for the truth a small earthquake happened that sunday) a lot of people would have to live to L'Aquila and now the counter of the victims could be higher...maybe the earthquakes could be expected with his system based on radon's gas but not in the immediatly time..maybe in the middle time and with an higher higher instrumentiation...

i can suggest you http://www.corriere.it/english/ the main newspaper in italy

 

all the coldplayer members in our italian coldplay site are ok...they are scared, maybe someone without home but alive

Thats good to hear. I feel so bad for those people. It is very sad

What do the Italians think about what Berlusconi said that people was okay so theyshould take it as having a camping? ... I know he's very famous for his sense of humour but still, I can't believe a president/prime minister saying such things.

sometimes he shoud keep his mounth shut and keep his sense of humor for his private life..especially in these situations..for the rest, imho, the government has taken good steps to face the emercency for example the stop for that people, of paying tax, energy, gas, water ecc.. and other steps for rebuild all...

 

however it's incredible: L'Aquila moved up for a maximum of 15 cm from where the city was before O_O