AXJ-ITALIA: Un terremoto sacude el centro de Italia.

Un terremoto sacude el centro de Italia.www.google.es (News) Un fuerte terremoto deja al menos dos muertos en el centro de Italia
El seísmo, registrado a 85 kilómetros de Roma, ha alcanzado una magnitud de 6,3 en la escala de Ritcher.- Hay numerosos heridos y graves daños materiales

Un terremoto de intensidad 6,3 en la escala de Richter ha dejado al menos dos muertos en la región central italiana de Abruzos, además de numerosos heridos y graves daños materiales, según informa el diario italiano La Repubblica. Las autoridades temen que bajo los escombros de los edificios derrumbados pueda haber más personas atrapadas.

El epicentro del seísmo, que se ha podido sentir en Roma, se registró a las 3.35 horas de este lunes muy cerca de la localidad de L'Aquila, capital de Abruzos, a unos 85 kilómetros al noreste de la capital italiana, según informó el Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos.

Varios edificios del casco antiguo de L'Aquila se han derrumbado, entre ellos parte de una residencia universitaria y la torre de una iglesia. Fuentes de los servicios de emergencias han señalado que podría haber más víctimas bajo los escombros y que numerosas personas han resultado heridas, según La Repubblica.

En Roma, el temblor hizo crujir las antiguas casas del centro histórico romano. Muchos vecinos salieron a las calles a la espera de una réplica, aunque pasados unos minutos fueron volviendo a sus casas.

El terremoto fue precedido de una serie de temblores de menor intensidad en la región central, registrados desde el domingo. El más fuerte se produjo en los alrededores de L'Aquila, alrededor de las 23 horas del domingo, con una intensidad de 4,6 en la escala Ritcher.

www.google.es

MARTA FALCONI

Publicado: 06 Abr 2009 08:55  

 Asunto: Strong earthquake hits central Italy; 20 dead

Strong earthquake hits central Italy; 20 dead

 By MARTA FALCONI – 14 minutes ago http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkcWIUobzfe0DCXm1fJn_Xfj_QpgD97CR2M00

L'AQUILA, Italy (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck central Italy early Monday, killing at least 20 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless, officials and news reports said. Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue crews made their way through the debris.

Firefighters aided by dogs were trying to rescue people from crumbled homes, including a student dormitory in the city of L'Aquila where half a dozen university students were believed trapped. Outside the half-collapsed dorm, tearful students huddled together wrapped in blankets, some still in their slippers.

"We managed to come down with other students but we had to sneak through a hole in the stairs as the whole floor came down," said student Luigi Alfonsi, 22. "I was in bed — it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me." The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3, though Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8. The quake struck about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Rome at 3:32 a.m. local time (0132 GMT), officials said. The Civil Protection Department said the epicenter was near L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region. By early morning, the death toll stood at 20, including five children, with some 30 people unaccounted for, carabinieri paramilitary police said. In addition to L'Aquila, the town of Castelnuovo appeared hard hit, with five of the dead there. "It's the worst tragedy since the start of the millennium," said Guido Bertolaso, the head of the Civil Protection Department. Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster.

He said he was weighing whether to cancel a planned visit to Russia to deal with the crisis. In L'Aquila, residents and rescue workers were hauling away debris from collapsed buildings by hand while bloodied victims waited to be tended to in hospital hallways or outside in the hospital courtyard. On the city's dusty streets as aftershocks continued to rumble through, residents hugged one another, prayed quietly or frantically tried to call relatives. "We left as soon as we felt the first tremors," said Antonio D'Ostilio, 22, as he stood on a street in L'Aquila with a huge suitcase piled with clothes he had thrown together. "We woke up all of a sudden and we immediately ran downstairs in our pajamas."

Nearby, firefighters successfully pulled a woman covered in dust from the debris of her four-story home. Rescue crews demanded quiet as they listened for signs of life from other people believed still trapped inside. Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged. "This means that the we'll have several thousand people to assist over the next few weeks and months," Miozzo told Sky Italia. "Our goal is to give shelter to all by tonight." Four children died in L'Aquila after their houses collapsed, the ANSA news agency said. They quoted doctors at the main San Salvatore dell'Aquila hospital as saying there was nothing they could do for them. L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said some 100,000 people had left their homes and that many buildings in the city's historic center were damaged.

A series of jolts have struck the area over the past two days. In one area, bulldozers were already hauling away enormous slabs of buildings that had spilled over cars and onto the street. L'Aquila, a medieval city, lies in a valley surrounded by the Apennine mountains. It is the regional capital of the Abruzzo region, with about 70,000 inhabitants. Bertolaso likened Monday's quake to the temblors that struck the central Umbria region on Sept. 26, 1997. That quake killed 10 people and devastated medieval buildings and churches, including Assisi's famed basilica, across the region. The last major quake to hit central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.

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ANSA said the dome of a church in L'Aquila collapsed, while the city's cathedral also suffered damages.