Italy earthquake kills at least 120, reduces towns to rubble

Thu, August 25, 2016 / 01:17 am

+ See SlideShow

/

A clock is stopped at the time when an earthquake struck central Italy, in Amatrice Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP
+ See SlideShow

/

Rescuers search for survivors through rubble after an earthquake, in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 23 people were reported dead in three hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
+ See SlideShow

/

Rescuers search for survivors through rubble after an earthquake, in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 23 people were reported dead in three hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
+ See SlideShow

/

Rescuers search a crumbled building in Arcuata del Tronto, central Italy, where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi
+ See SlideShow

/

Rescuers work in Amatrice, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, where a magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Turistic sign at right reads in Italian : "Amatrice, one of the most beautiful hamlets in Italy". AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
+ See SlideShow

/

A woman is comforted as she walks through rubble after an earthquake, in Amatrice, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 23 people were reported dead in three hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
+ See SlideShow

/

A victim is carried on a stretcher from a collapsed building after an earthquake, in Amatrice, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 23 people were reported dead in three hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets. AP Photo/Alessandra Taranti...
+ See SlideShow

/

A man cries as another injured is helped in Amatrice, central Italy, where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP
+ See SlideShow

/

An injured man is carried on a stretcher by rescuers following an earthquake in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome, where residents felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. The temblor shook the Lazio region and Umbria and Le Marche on the Adriatic coast. Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP
+ See SlideShow

/

Damaged houses are reflected in the shattered window of a cafe, in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
+ See SlideShow

/

A family photo is seen among the debris of a collapsed house in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
+ See SlideShow

/

A post office is engulfed by rubbles in Arcuata del Tronto, central Italy, where a 6.1 earthquake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi
+ See SlideShow

/

A broken crucifix hangs inside the damaged church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Accumoli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, after a magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
+ See SlideShow

/

A nun checks her mobile phone as she lies near a victim laid on a ladder following an earthquake in Amatrice Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP
+ See SlideShow

/

A woman holds a child as they stand in the street following an earthquake, in Amatrice, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP
+ See SlideShow

/

Residents sit outdoor following an earthquake in Cumuli, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. A strong earthquake in central Italy reduced three towns to rubble as people slept early Wednesday. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome, where residents felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. The temblor shook the Lazio region and Umbria and Le Marche on the Adriatic coast. AP Photo/Andrew Medi...
+ See SlideShow

/

An elderly man is given assistance as collapsed buildings are seen in the background following an earthquake, in Amatrice, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

A strong earthquake in central Italy reduced three towns to rubble as people slept early Wednesday, killing at least 73 people and injuring hundreds more as rescue crews raced to dig out survivors with bulldozers and their bare hands.

The toll was likely to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets where the scenes were apocalyptic "like Dante's Inferno," according to one witness. Complicating matters was that the area is a popular vacation spot in summer, with populations swelling, making the number of people in the area at the time difficult to estimate.

"The town isn't here anymore," said Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice. "I believe the toll will rise."

The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. [0136 GMT] and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome, where residents woke to a long swaying followed by aftershocks. The temblor shook the Lazio region and Umbria and Le Marche on the Adriatic coast.

Premier Matteo Renzi planned to head to the zone later Wednesday and promised the area, which has suffered quakes many times before: "No family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind."

The hardest-hit towns were the tiny towns of Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, some 100 kilometers [62 miles] northeast of Rome, and Pescara del Tronto some 25 kilometers further east. Italy's civil protection agency, which was coordinating the rescue, said the provisional toll was 73 dead, several hundred injured and thousands in need of temporary housing, though it stressed the numbers were fluid.

The center of Amatrice was devastated, with entire blocks of buildings razed and the air thick with dust and smelling strongly of gas. Amatrice, birthplace of the famed spaghetti all'amatriciana bacon-tomato pasta sauce, is made up of 69 hamlets that rescue teams were working to reach.

Rocks and metal tumbled onto the streets of the city center and dazed residents huddled in piazzas as more than 40 aftershocks jolted the region into the early morning hours, some as strong as 5.1.