(Kitco News) – Italy is crying once again, after it was hit by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake which shook the heart of the country – affecting the regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Abruzzo.
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Italy hit by 6.2 magnitude earthquake; dozens buried
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The earthquake, which rocked central Italy early Wednesday, buried residents under rubble as they slept. At last count, 73 people are dead, with many children among the victims– this according to the latest reports from Italy’s Corriere Della Sera.
One survivor told the Italian newspaper, “I’m alive by a miracle – I had just woken up to go to work, I had just got out of bed and then everything shook and crumbled. Ten seconds is all it took to destroy everything.”
“There are people under the rubble,” the town’s mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, told state-run broadcaster RAI. “The town isn’t here anymore.”
The temblor hit at 3:36 a.m. local time near Norcia, 50 miles southeast of Perugia, and was felt more than 100 miles away in Rome. Aftershocks were still being felt in the town as late as 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET).
Italy’s defense ministry mobilized the army to help in the search for survivors.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, “Italians show their best side in difficult moments,” telling reporters: “We must continue to work and to dig through the debris in order to save human lives and give hope to all those involved in the area.”
Italy has a history of tremors — an earthquake with a magnitude of six struck the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy on May 20, 2012. And in 2009, a 6.3-magnitude quake killed nearly 300 people in Abruzzo.
By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News; dcambone@kitco.com Follow @DanielaCambone
