This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38663608
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 3 | Version 4 |
---|---|
Italy earthquakes 'a catastrophe' for snowbound central region | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The president of Italy's Marche region has described three powerful new earthquakes on Wednesday as a "catastrophe" and appealed for help. | |
Luca Ceriscioli said quakes and snow had caused landslides and thousands of families were suffering power cuts. | |
A number of villages had become isolated, he said, with fallen trees blocking snow ploughs. | |
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker promised Italy would not be "left alone". | |
There were no immediate reports of deaths after the new tremors, which were all recorded as above magnitude 5. | |
Marche was one of the regions worst hit by the earthquake of 24 August, with 46 of its 298 victims losing their lives in a single mountain village there, Pescara del Tronto. | |
The latest tremors also affected the neighbouring regions of Abruzzo and Lazio and were felt in the capital, Rome. | |
Amatrice, the Lazio town where 236 of the August deaths were recorded, is close to the epicentre of the new quakes. | |
The tremors came after some 36 hours of steady snowfall in mountainous areas around Amatrice and Norcia. | |
'Maximum mobilisation' | |
The first big quake struck at 10:25 (09:25 GMT) with a magnitude of around 5.3, followed at 11:14 with one of 5.4, followed some 11 minutes later by another of 5.3, according to the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (in Italian). | |
All three were around 9km (5.6 miles) in depth, meaning they were dangerously close to the surface. | |
"It's a catastrophe," Mr Ceriscioli said, as civil defence leaders met to discuss the response in Marche. | |
"Today's tremors and the snow of the last days add huge problems, especially on the roads, to the dramatic situation caused by the [August] earthquake. | |
"The lack of electricity causes serious problems to thousands of families who don't know where to go or to stay." | |
The priority, he said, was "taking people to safe and warm places". | |
He appealed for "maximum mobilisation", saying the army was already lending assistance, and called on other parts of Italy to send help to clear the roads and restore power. | |
Saying the rest of Europe shared Italy's pain, Jean-Claude Juncker said he was sending his commissioner in charge of humanitarian affairs to Italy. | |
"We will provide all kinds of efforts, instruments, helps at our disposal because I think that in that matter, as in the migration matter, Italy cannot be left alone," he said. | |
"An earthquake in Italy is an earthquake in Europe - that's the way I'm considering this sad event." | |
Schools have been evacuated in the areas worst affected while in Rome, the underground system was shut as a safety precaution. | |
"Everyone is outside," Lina Mercantini, in the village of Ceselli in the Umbrian region, about 80km from the epicentre area, told Reuters news agency. | |
"It's very cold and windy. This is totally unnerving. It's never ending. We are all shaking." | |
Giuseppe Di Felice, a hotel worker in Capitagno very close to the epicentre area, told state-run Rai radio people couldn't get out of their homes. "It's apocalyptic," he said. | Giuseppe Di Felice, a hotel worker in Capitagno very close to the epicentre area, told state-run Rai radio people couldn't get out of their homes. "It's apocalyptic," he said. |