The northern Italy region of Bologna witnessed a Sunday morning earthquake which passed as one of the strongest to shake Italy with a rattling magnitude of 6.0 which killed at least four people, toppled buildings and sent residents running into the streets according to news reports.
Seismologists say the quake which started at 4:04 a.m. Sunday between Modena and Mantova, about 35 kilometres north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 5 kilometresis one of the strongest quakes to shake the region and initial television footage indicated that older buildings had suffered damage.
Church towers showed cracks and the bricks of some stone walls tumbled into the street. As dawn broke over the region, residents milled about the streets inspecting the damage.
Three people were killed in Sant’Agostino di Ferrara when a ceramics factory collapsed. Another person was killed in Ponte Rodoni do Bondeno.
Images of the collapsed ceramics factory where the two workers were reportedly killed; the structure, which appeared to be a hangar of sorts, had twisted metal supports jutting out at odd angles amid the mangled collapsed roof were shown on television.
Two other people died of apparent heart attacks in the wake of the quake.
Many people were still awake at 4 a.m. and milling about town since it was a “White Night,” with stores and restaurants open all night. Museums were supposed to have remained open as well but closed following the bombing Saturday of a school in southern Italy that killed one person.
The epicentre was between the towns of Finale Emilia, San Felice sul Panaro and Sermide but was felt as far away as Tuscany and northern Alto Adige.
The initial quake was followed about an hour later by a 5.1-magnitude temblor, USGS said. And it was preceded by a 4.1-temblor.
In late January, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings.
In 2009, a devastating temblor killed more than 300 people in the central city of L’Aquila.
