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Updated at 11.09pm
THE DEATH TOLL from the powerful earthquake that struck central Italy overnight has risen to 159 people.
As rescue-workers struggle through the debris in central Italy, the country’s civil protection agency has raised the death toll to 159.
That is up from 120 earlier today, when Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned that the figure could still rise.
Some 368 people were injured in the tremor, he said at a press conference in the Rieti region, not far from the epicentre of the 6.2 magnitude quake.
“This is not a final toll,” Renzi added.
Immacolata Postiglione, the head of the unit’s emergency department, announced the new toll at a press conference in Rome as rescue efforts continued in the mountain villages devastated by the quake.
The quake, which struck in the early hours, devastated dozens of villages. The epicentre was around 10km southeast of Norcia, according to the US Geological Survey – and the effects were even felt in Rome, around 160km away.
Deaths were reported in several villages in a mountainous area straddling the regions of Lazio and Marche.
President Michael D Higgins has sent his condolences to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
In the letter President Higgins offered his condolences, on behalf of the people of Ireland, on the tragic loss of life that has occurred following the earthquake in Umbria.
Elderly couple
An elderly couple whose home collapsed at Pescara del Tronto in the Marche region were the first confirmed victims early this morning, according to national broadcaster Rai.
One other person was reported dead at Accumoli, a village close to the epicentre, and two corpses were recovered from the rubble of a collapsed building in Amatrice.
The mayor of Arquata del Tronto, near Pescara, said that, in addition to the one confirmed death, four people were trapped under rubble and not responding to residents trying to reach them.
The mayor of Amatrice has reportedly said “half the town is gone”.
Alejandro Alvarez / TwitterRescue crews needed in #Amatrice, reports people trapped. Area roads in bad shape. (📷: @GuiliaCiarapix/@Umbria24) pic.twitter.com/e43CDpupGp
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) August 24, 2016
Many buildings in centre of Amatrice were razed by the 6.2 magnitude quake, which struck at 3.36am local time (2.36am Irish time).
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.
Condolences
In Dublin, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said he was saddened to hear of the devastating earthquake in Umbria.
“I want to convey my deepest condolences to the Italian government and to offer heartfelt sympathy to the families and friends of those affected by the disaster,” he said.
The Irish Embassy in Rome is monitoring the situation and, to date, has received no confirmation of Irish casualties.
The minister urged anyone with concerns to contact hi department on 01 408 2000.
In a report earlier, the Reuters news agency says that while the quake caused serious damage to a number of towns, it did not seem to have hit heavily populated areas.
“Now that daylight has come, we see that the situation is even more dreadful than we feared,” Accumoli mayor Stefano Petrucci is quoted as saying.
Charlotte Smith, who coaches Elon University women’s basketball team in the US state of North Carolina, was in Rome with her team when the quake hit.
She told CNN:
It lasted for at least 30 seconds. The entire hotel was shaking.
I went down to the lobby and there were a lot of people waiting there … Then an earthquake happened 30 minutes later.
Michael Gilroy, who spoke to the US news channel from Montepulciano, to the north of Rome, said:
It felt like the bed was on rollers.
It was initially very confusing. I’m from California and had a sense of what it may be. And we ran out to the main area and the chandelier was swaying back and forth. At that point, we knew we had to get out of the building as fast as we can.
Irish embassy
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said its embassy in Rome is monitoring the situation.
DFATravelWise / TwitterWe are aware of an earthquake in Italy, Embassy Rome is monitoring the situation. Any Irish citizens with concerns pls call 01 408 2527
— DFATravelWise (@dfatravelwise) August 24, 2016
There have been no requests for consular assistance, but the embassy stands ready to provide assistance if required, the spokesperson said.
With reporting from AFP, Associated Press, Órla Ryan and Darragh Peter Murphy.
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I hope that If anyone has anybody out there, they’re OK.
It looks like the aftermath of an Israeli air-strike.
Interesting. Not a Russian, Syrian government, Saudi, French, American, Jordanian, Iranian, Iraqi, British, Qatari or Nigerian airstrike although these nations, unlike Israel, are all actively involved in aerial bombing campaigns as we speak. A little light antisemitism mixed into an unrelated subject perhaps?
Difference being the Israelis deliberately target civilian areas, that’s why I said it looks like the aftermath of an Israeli air-strike. An Israeli is not a Jew or a Semite, they are a citizen of the illegal Israeli state, nice try though, actually, no, it wasn’t at all.
Are there no early/effective warning systems?
Not unless there is minor tremors beforehand. But most quakes come because of the sudden release of pressure on the tectonic plates much like a champagne cork.
Wow I’ve never seen an innocent question red thumbed so much, the knowledge of the journal readership on effective earthquake prevention systems is second to none though
The knowledge of the journal readers knows no bounds on practically every subject L
When Nature so choses it sure can put a lot of our man made problems into perspective. What a tragedy it is for those poor people. And that area is a beautiful part of Italy too
This was also caused by the brexit.
Oh gawwwwd
Defo last time reading journal. Too many morons trying to impress with cheap jokes.
RIP.
Hopefully people who were injured will get better soon.
RIP to the people who have died in Italy today. Did anyone see the recent Discovery Channel documentary about earthquakes? It went through all the scientific data etc etc…..& the lasting damage done to the Tetronic Plates, by the 2004 tsunami. Cutting to the chase….It ended on a final warning shot, that WHEN (not IF) a major earthquake hits Istanbul ….basically we’re all doomed. With great graphics, they illustrated the Earth like a cup, with several small surface cracks,,that eventually totally breaks apart, which will trigger the San Andreas Fault line, which will then trigger the greatest tsunami, which will blow that volcanic island in the Canarias. But, they calculate that Istanbul, by it’s geophysics & location, will get a major wallop first, thus, this will be the start of the Doomsday scenario. And because huge populations will be impacted, NO warning systems would serve any useful purpose.
Sort of like austerity, yeah?
I better get the washing in off the line so.
did they make it on a plane and end up on an Arc in China?
@Anne Marie, the movie “2012″ is not a documentary
When Yellowstone blows we in Ireland will be wiped out by a Tsunami, it’s only a matter when and not if.
You’re shittin’ us right?
Jimmy joe, Yellowstone sits on a volcano. Volcanic eruptions don’t cause tsunamis. Earthquakes cause tsunamis.
Copy and paste from Futurism.com:
‘A super eruption, like all volcanic eruptions, begins with an earthquake. And if Yellowstone were to have a super eruption, we’d have some big ones. These earthquakes would begin weeks or months before the final eruption.’
@dublinlad, point of order, if the volcano is near a sea, or if it’s an undersea volcano, volcanic eruptions can cause tsunamis too, see Krakatoa, but Yellowstone won’t cause a tsunami, because it’s nowhere near an ocean, if it blows it’ll be no picnic though
Wow, there is a load of morons commenting here. Women, men and children are dead in Italy and some idiot says “shit happens” and another mentions ISIS. These are the digital Warriors that have lost touch with reality. I’d love to stick them bang in the midst of a disaster, see how much use their phone is then
Phone would probably cost the same no matter where they are.
Isis will be along to claim responsibility soon
A tectonic plate.
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