Death toll rises after Italy quake
The death toll from a powerful earthquake in northern
Italy has risen to six, as strong aftershocks forced the evacuation of
thousands of people.
The epicentre of the 6.0-magnitude quake was in the province of Modena, but it was felt from Venice to Milan.It has left thousands homeless and reduced historic buildings in cities including Bologna and Verona to rubble.
The quake hit in the early hours of Sunday (local time) as people were sleeping, sending terrified residents running into the street.
"I am 83 and I have never felt anything like this," Lina Gardenghi said in the town of Bondeno, near Ferrara.
The quake was followed by a series of jolting aftershocks, sparking the evacuation of 3,000 people.
At least two of the tremors reached magnitude-5.1, sowing fresh panic, further damaging already weakened buildings and causing more structures to collapse.
The tremors were more deadly than any since 2009, when the central city of L'Aquila was devastated.
When we were got on the street, it was like we were at sea, the ground was shaking.
Ferrara resident Angelo
Two of the dead suffered heart attacks, while one woman was crushed under a building that collapsed.
The other four victims were night-shift workers in factories which collapsed, including two who were crushed when the roof of a ceramics factory caved in in the town of Sant'Agostino.
"He wasn't supposed to be there," the mother of one of the victims said.
"He changed shifts with a friend who wanted to go to the beach."
Emergency workers are sifting through the rubble of collapsed buildings, searching for victims.
Thousands of residents in towns around Ferrara have sought shelter in a gymnasium after being evacuated.
"We will sleep here even if they don't bring us beds or anything. At least it's safe," one man called Angelo said.
He said his house shook so hard it was impossible to flee from it.
"When we were got on the street, it was like we were at sea, the ground was shaking," he said.
"He wasn't supposed to be there. He changed shifts with a friend who wanted to go to the beach.
The mother of one of the victims
British tourist David Trew was in the town of Ferrara when the quake struck.
"I woke up to what I initially thought was thunder, but of course the deep rumbling was accompanied by violent shaking of the room, with plaster falling onto my head and all around me," he said.
"I've never experienced an earthquake before, you know, frankly I was absolutely terrified."
Prime minister Mario Monti cut short his trip to the United States and said the cabinet would declare a state of emergency, freeing up funds for quake relief.
History destroyed
Photo: A picture shows a wall which has collapsed in San Felice sul Panaro, near Modena. (Twitter: gluca)The region shaken by the quake is Italy's industrial heartland but also home to priceless architectural and art treasures.
The damage adds up to the greatest loss to Italy's artistic heritage since an earthquake in 1997 ravaged the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, where the ceiling collapsed.
The imposing 14th-century Estense Castle, a symbol of the town of San Felice Sul Panaro and its most important building, is among the buildings left severely damaged.
The tops of several of its smaller towers collapsed and there are fears the main tower, weakened by cracks, could tumble.
"We have practically lost all our artistic patrimony," said Alberto Silvestri, mayor of San Felice.
We have practically lost all our artistic patrimony.
San Felice mayor Alberto Silvestri
"Churches and towers collapsed. The theatre is still standing but has cracks."
A local chapel in San Carlo, the 16th-century Ghisilieri Oratorium, which had just been re-opened after an eight-year restoration, lay in ruins.
"We'll never be able to rebuild it," sighed Claudio Fabbri, 37, an architect from Modena who has been working on the project.
He rushed to the scene in the early hours after a local resident told him what had happened.
Statues of angels in the chapel's apse stared into the open sky after the roof and most of the walls caved in.
Mr Fabbri said his only hope was to save a precious painting above the altar now exposed to the elements.
Meanwhile warehouses storing more than 300,000 wheels of Parmesan and Grana Padano, with an estimated value of more than 250 million euros ($320 million), also collapsed, an industry official said.
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