Central Italy hit by 6.2-magnitude earthquake, injuries reported

ROME – A strong earthquake hit a mountainous area of central Italy in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with injuries and building collapses reported.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of the 6.2-magnitude quake was in the medieval town of Norcia, around 62 miles northeast of Rome.

The Italian Civil Protection agency, which activated a crisis unit, said the magnitude measured 6.0.

“We have news of injuries and collapses,” the head of the Civil Protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, told public broadcaster Rainews24. He could not give more details.

Norcia is a medieval town in Umbria. It was hit by a major earthquake in 1979, which killed five people, and it is relatively near l’Aquila, where a 5.9 quake killed 309 people seven years ago.

Curcio said the latest seismic event was “severe” and “comparable” to the l’Aquila earthquake in its intensity, but was likely less deadly because it took place in an area that is less densely populated.

The earthquake was felt in the capital and all around central Italy, and was followed by several aftershocks, including a 5.9 shock.

“The earth is still shaking,” Eraldo Di Giacomo, a resident of Amatrice, one of the towns damaged by the quake, told Rainews 24. “Everything has collapsed, houses, everything,” he said. “Everything is broken.”