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Earthquake hits central Italy, near Rome

ROME — A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, with reports of damaged buildings and blackouts near the epicenter Rieti and residents fleeing their homes and running into the streets.

Late Tuesday night, the ANSA news agency says two bodies have been pulled from the rubble of quake-hit Amatrice in central Italy after a strong quake levelled buildings as residents slept.

Many buildings in center of Amatrice were razed by the 6.1 magnitude quake, which struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday. As dawn broke, residents with shovels and emergency workers with bulldozers were beginning to try to reach people trapped under the debris and clear blocked roads.

The two bodies mark the first known victims of the quake, although the mayor of the other hard-hit town of Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, says a family of four is buried without any signs of life.

The mayor of the quake-hit town of Accumoli says a family of four has been located under the debris of a collapsed building and but there are no signs of life.

Mayor Stefano Petrucci told state-run RaiNews24 that there was also another victim in the town, which is close to the epicenter of Italy’s 6.1 magnitude quake.

Officials say Accumoli and Amatrice have been the hardest hit by the quake. Residents across a broad swath of central Italy felt the temblor, which struck at 3:36 a.m. and sent people running into the streets.

The quake struck just after 3:30 a.m. and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital, Rome, where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.2. The European Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude at 6.1 and said the epicenter was northeast of Rome, near Rieti.

The mayor of Amatrice, near Rieti, Sergio Perozzi, told state-run RAI radio that there were downed buildings in the city center and that the lights had gone out. He said he was unable to get in touch with emergency responders or reach the hospital.

“What can I tell you? It’s a drama,” he said.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the same region and killed more than 300 people. The earlier earthquake struck L’Aquila in central Italy, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the latest quake.