A powerful earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale jolted central Italy Sunday morning, further damaging historic buildings and churches following former tremors in the past week.
The quake struck central Italy's Norcia town, a famous medieval town in Umbria, at 07:40 am local time (0640 GMT). The epicenter was at a depth of 10 km, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) reported.
It was the strongest quake registered in Italy since 1980, when a similar strike destroyed Irpinia area in southeast Naples, according to INGV experts.
No casualties were immediately reported on Sunday. So far, at least nine people have been injured, one of them severely, in the towns of Norcia, Tolentino and Cascia, said Fabrizio Curcio, Italian civil protection's chief.
"It is a provisional evaluation. Our emergency crews are checking on all of the small hamlets in the affected areas," Curcio told local media.
Several buildings collapsed in Norcia and other affected areas, while many buildings struck by two previous earthquakes earlier this week, including the 14th-century San Benedetto Basilica in Norcia, were almost flattened. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea also collapsed during the quake.
The quake also caused disruption in many roads in central Italy. A main highway connecting Rome to the affected areas was cut off for several hours due to landslides, and some provincial roads were impassable, creating difficulties for relief efforts. Some villages like Castelsantangelo sul Nera were completely sealed off after the quake.
Six aircraft were dispatched in the emergency, with all search-and-rescue teams alerted at the national level, the civil protection's head said.
The temblor was strongly felt in the capital city of Rome, some 175 km southwest of the epicenter, where some people went out in the streets, and metro service was suspended.
It was also felt as far as in the northern city of Bolzano at the border with Austria, some 600 km away, and in southern Puglia region, although less intensely.
Central Italy is crossed by the Apennine mountainous chain, and is considered a high-seismic territory. The country has been hit constantly by earthquakes since August 24, when a 6-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy, killing 298 people. On October 26, two regions of Italy were struck by smaller tremors measuring 5.5 and 6.1 respectively.
