ROME, MILLAT+(APP/AFP) – A series of earthquakes
measuring 5.3-5.7 magnitude struck central Italy on Wednesday,
bringing fresh terror to an area still reeling from deadly quakes
last year and struggling to cope with heavy snowfall.
Monitors said the first quake, which struck at 10:25 am
(0925 GMT) was around 5.3 magnitude and a second, some 50 minutes
later, was put at 5.7 magnitude by the European Mediterranean
Seismological Centre (EMSC). It was quickly followed by a third,
measured at 5.5.
The tremors were felt across the Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche
regions and also in Rome, over 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.
Underground train services in the capital were suspended
on safety grounds and the Italian foreign ministry and some
schools were evacuated.
Those schools that were not already closed due to snow
in towns and villages closer to the affected area were also
evacuated.
Emergency services mobilised helicopters to check the impact
of the quakes.
There were no immediate reports of building collapses but
residents of the city of Aquila, which has been badly hit in
previous earthquakes, rushed into the streets in scenes of
panic.
The epicentres of the quakes were pinpointed in an area close
to Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by the first of the
earthquakes which struck the mountainous centre of the country
betweenAugust and October last year.
Nearly 300 people died in that 6.0 magnitude quake, most
of them in or close to Amatrice, a beauty spot which was packed
with holiday makers at the height of the summer season.
Two further quakes rattled the region in October, with the
most powerful measuring 6.5 magnitude.
The latest quake came in the wake of 36 hours of continuous
snowfall in areas close to Amatrice and another badly-hit mountain
town, Norcia.
Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi cursed his town’s bad luck.