A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck central Italy early Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
The Basilica of Saint Benedict has been destroyed in the earthquake. (Twitter)
The quake – which was felt from Rome to Venice – struck at 0640 GMT six kilometres north of the small town of Norcia, four days after quakes of 5.5 and 6.1 magnitude hit central Italy.
It was Italy’s biggest quake since a 6.9-magnitude events struck the south of the country in 1980, leaving 3,000 people dead.
In this image made from video, bricks fallen from a damaged building block a street in Norcia, Italy. (AAP)
Fabrizio Curcio, head of the national civil protection agency, said the area is being secured while crews check for any victims.
“We are checking, there are several people injured but for the moment we have had no reports of victims,” he told a press conference in the city of Rieti, in Lazio province.
But the 14th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict in the Umbrian mountain town of Norcia, said to be have been the birthplace of the Catholic saint, was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Images aired by Italy’s Sky News 24 showed monks on their knees praying silently in front of the outdoor statue of St Benedict of Norcia, while scared residents stood by.
Emergency crews rush to assist residents. (Sky UK)
In this image made from video, bricks fallen from a damaged building block a street in Norcia, Italy. (AAP)
The church is looked after by an international community of Benedictine monks based in a local monastery which attracts some 50,000 pilgrims every year.
“It was like a bomb went off,” the town’s deputy mayor, Pierluigi Altavilla told Rai News 24.
“We are starting to despair. There are too many quakes now, we can’t bear it anymore.”
The basilica was inspected last week by experts from the ministry of culture and earmarked for structural repair work which could not be carried out.
Guiseppe Pezzanesi, mayor of Tolentino in the neighbouring Marche region, said the small town had “suffered our blackest day yet.”
“The damage is irreparable. There are thousands of people in the streets, terrified, crying. Let’s hope that is an end to it, the people are on their knees psychologically.”
On August 24, nearly 300 people died in a major quake in the notoriously seismic-prone region.
The quake set dogs barking in the largely-abandoned towns of Norcia, Castelsantagelo, Preci and Visso, where residents had left their homes to sleep in cars or moved to the coast following this week’s quakes.
“Everything collapsed. I can see columns of smoke, it’s a disaster, a disaster,” Marco Rinaldi, the mayor of Ussita, one of the pretty mountain villages hit hardest by the last quake, told journalists.
“I was sleeping in my car, I saw hell break out,” he was quoted as saying.
– 9News Au
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