Huge earthquake hits L'Aquila, central Italy

The USGS are reporting it as 6.3 there were a couple of moderate quakes in different parts of Italy earlier today one 4.0 and one 4.6 magnitude.

Mon Apr 6, 2009 2:23am GMT

Phil Pulella reports for Reuters :

ROME (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale rocked central Italy on Monday and was felt in the capital Rome, but there was no immediate word of any casualties.

Some residents in the city of l'Aquila, east of Rome in the mountainous Abruzzo region, ran out into the streets and there were reports of wide cracks in some homes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake, which struck at about 3.35 a.m. (2:35 a.m. British time), was believed to be some 53 miles (85 km) northeast of Rome. It initially put the scale of the quake at 6.7 but later lowered it 6.3.

Residents of Rome, which is rarely hit by seismic activity, were woken by the quake. Furniture rattled and car alarms went off.

The quake was the latest and strongest in a series to hit the l'Aquila area on Sunday and Monday.

Earthquakes can be particularly dangerous in parts of Italy where centuries-old buildings are left in disrepair.

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE53506B20090406

I personally witnessed this quake in my city (Pescara, almost same latitude as Rome, on the Adriatic coast) this morning at about 3:30am.

It was a really strong one and reports mentioned it as 5.6 to 6.7 Richter. Apparently it is in my same region, Abruzzo, and in the city of L'Aquila, which is full of ancient buildings. In L'Aquila there were several minor seismic events in the last few days.

The house where I live (an apartment in a 5-story building) shook incredibly violently and I never though I could hear it so strong at the second floor where I live, it seemed more violent than the Assisi quake and that one woke me up (I lived in another building at the time and at the fourth floor, and the bed was moving fast... scary thing to experience).

The quake lasted long... my impression is that it lasted more than half a minute. Not just the intenstity, even the duration was very high.

One little episode to give an idea of the strength of this quake, even if I am not so close to the epicenter and my city is low risk as a seismic zone: I first took care of my two sleeping children (age 2 1/2 and 4 1/2) that didn't notice almost anything (I quickly took the little one with me and went to check his brother); at the peak of the quake, while we were in a spot that I thought was safe, I heard a broken glass noise. When everything calmed down and after putting kids to bed and making a couple phonecalls, I went to check what had happened. A bottle of sherry which was placed high onto some furniture had literally flew off that one and made a mess in the livingroom. Oh well. Not a great loss for sure, when you can tell you survived that kind of event. ;)

I have heard also that a few hours before another quake of weaker intensity had been reported in the area of Forlì, between the regions of Emilia Romagna and Marche.

Apparently early reports about tonight's quake mention severe damage to buildings in L'Aquila but tv and websites don't have too much more yet here. From my past experience (I am almost 38 and I remember quakes like Irpinia in 1980, Assisi in 1998 I think and a recent one in Molise, all from nearby regions, all heard clearly here where I live but with no damages in my town) I fear this sadly means a lot of damages and some casualties too.

The quake was heard in Rome clearly also because the L'Aquila area is in the middle between here and Rome. Many people in central Italy left their houses and went down in the streets for a while (I saw some out of the building where I live too).

I will try to report some more in a few hours, possibly...

4:49 now, some reports are coming and according to the website for newspaper La Repubblica (www.repubblica.it) some buildings have collapsed in L'Aquila and there are people buried under them.

Thank you everyone for your updates on this story.

 Here is the link to a nice Google Street View of the beautiful area before the disaster. Sad.....

http://tinyurl.com/cejm86

bad news! I have family and friends living in Rome. The news I'm getting more than 30 dead including young children. 100's injured and many now homeless, its just about dawn in Italy hope to speak with my brother again but lines are very busy?

I can confirm 20 people dead until now, part of the highway between Rome and l'Aquila (A24) is shut down between Valle del Salto and Assergi and is being checked (the road runs between the mountains and with several bridges)... schools are also closed in the region today.

This is great coverage, everyone. Thanks for staying on top of this story.

I am now also adding updates in a separate price starting this morning: http://my.nowpublic.com/environment/state-emergency-italy-after-strong-quake-laquila

Thanks for the reporting and the updates. Sad to hear this news.

I have a house in Ascoli Pecino province, frazione of Montemonaco, village called San Lorenzo. Wanting to know if villagers are safe and house still intact. Cant get through on the phones anybody know anything about this area.

My daughter is going to Europe with her graduating highschool class today.  They will be in Rome and Florence next week.  Her Mom and I are obviously worried.  Is Rome on a fault line or in any danger from an earthquake?

I lived in L'aqila for a year and a half about 12 years ago. very upset and hoping all my old freinds who I have lost touch with are OK. Some of the nicest people in the world live in this city, kind, fun, generous to a fault. Hopes and prayers with everyone

I have some family members leaving in the small town (Collimento) apart of L'Aquila Italy leave live on (Properzi Street) besided the square can any one tell me anything about the town. I can not get intouch with them no phone and lines all tied up. One of my relatives is the town preist Father Lougie. 

Appreciated

Barry Properzi

dra235: no casualties reported in the Province of Ascoli Piceno; while the shocks were strong and felt in a wide area of central Italy, most of damages to buldings and all injured and dead people were in L'Aquila and its Province.

Please if anyone has the accelerogram of this earthquake, it would really help me if he could email it to me! Thank you

• no BADLY WRITTEN BLAA