Earthquake in Italy Kills over 150 and Wounds Many More

An earthquake hit L’Aquila, Italy on Monday morning, killing over 150 people in the central Italian town and injuring over 1,500 more. Rescue workers worked doggedly with any tools available, including their bare hands, in search for students who were believed to be buried in the wreckage of a dormitory in the town. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake also destroyed old and new buildings and did damage to an array of ancient castles and churches, including national landmarks.

L’Aquila, which is located roughly 70 miles to the northeast of Rome, saw residents pitch in for rescue attempts that lasted throughout the day. Firefighters and other rescue workers used cranes and dogs in their efforts to locate survivors. A dormitory building from the University of L’Aquila seemed to be the center of great damage. Luigi Alfonsi, a 22-year-old student who escaped the quake relatively unscathed and had joined in the rescue efforts, noted, "We managed to come down with other students but we had to sneak through a hole in the stairs as the whole floor came down. I was in bed – it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me."

Aftershocks occurring after midnight on Tuesday morning forced rescue workers to pause momentarily as rubble continued to fall from the ongoing rumblings. All together, the list of historic buildings damaged added to the toll the quake took. Giuseppe Proietti, a Culture Ministry official noted, "The damage is more serious than we can imagine. The historic center of L’Aquila has been devastated."