ALERT: Italy Earthquake

ALERT: Italy Earthquake

As an update to our earlier alert, there have now been two earthquakes in Italy this evening.

At 7:10 p.m. local time, a 5.4-magnitude quake struck near Visso in Macerata province, according to the

U.S. Geological Survey. That was followed, two hours later, by a 6.1 magnitude aftershock.

Reuters is reporting:

A series of strong earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday, striking fear among

residents still rattled by a deadly tremor in August, but there were no reports of

casualties.

A quake measured at 6.0 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey struck about two

hours after a first quake measuring 5.4 struck.

Both were strong enough to be felt more than 150 km south in Rome, where lamps

swayed on the upper floors of building.

The epicentres of both quakes were near the town of Castelsantangelo sul Nera in the

Marche region.

First reports indicated that some old buildings collapsed but that the damage would not

approach that caused by the major quake that struck the Marche, Lazio and Umbria

regions on Aug 24, which devastated several towns and killed nearly 300 people.

Officials in the town of Visso, not far from the epicentre, reported several injuries.

Several old rural churches collapsed or were damaged. Schools were ordered closed on

Thursday.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially attributed a magnitude of 5.6 to the first quake and

6.4 to the second, before revising them lower. USGS said the epicentre was at a depth of

about 10 km (6 miles).

Electrical power was lost in some of the areas and some roads were closed.

According to Fox News:

In Rome, some 145 miles southwest from the epicenter, centuries-old palazzi shook and

officials at the Foreign Ministry evacuated the building.

The quakes were actually aftershocks of the magnitude 6.2 earthquake from two months

ago. Because they were so close to the surface, it has the potential to cause more shaking

and more damage, “coupled with infrastructure that’s vulnerable to shaking,” said U.S.

Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle.

“They have a lot of old buildings that weren’t constructed at a time with modern seismic

codes,” he said.

Given the size, depth and location of the quakes, the USGS estimates that about 12

million people likely felt at least weak shaking.

This original quake was about 12 miles northwest of the original shock, which puts it on

the northern edge of the aftershock sequence and two months is normal for aftershocks,

Earle said. The August 6.2 quake was five times bigger than Wednesday’s and was 11

times stronger based on energy released.