ROME — Three earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday in a stinging triple-punch that brought fresh terror to an area still reeling from deadly quakes last year and struggling to cope with heavy snowfall.
Monitors said the first quake, which struck at 10:25 a.m. (0925 GMT) was around 5.3 magnitude. A second, some 50 minutes later, was put at 5.7 magnitude by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and was quickly followed by a third, measured at 5.5.
The tremors were felt across the Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche regions and also in Rome, over 100 km away.
Train services on some mainlines and the Rome underground were suspended on safety grounds. The Italian foreign ministry building and some schools in the capital were evacuated.
Those schools that were not already closed due to snow in towns and villages closer to the affected area were also evacuated.
Emergency services mobilized helicopters to check the impact of the quakes and the national civil protection agency was assessing the damage in villages closest to the epicenter.
There were no immediate reports of building collapses but residents of the city of Aquila, where over 300 people died in a 2009 earthquake, rushed into the snow-covered streets in scenes of panic.
The epicenters of the quakes were pinpointed in an area close to Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by the first of the earthquakes which struck the mountainous center of the country between August and October last year.
Nearly 300 people died in that 6.0 magnitude quake, most of them in or close to Amatrice, a beauty spot which was packed with holiday makers at the height of the summer season.
Two further quakes rattled the region in October, with the most powerful measuring 6.5 magnitude.
The latest quake came in the wake of 36 hours of continuous snowfall in areas close to Amatrice and another badly-hit mountain town, Norcia.
Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi cursed his town’s bad luck. — AFP
