Italy Quake's Death Toll Eclipses 150

Frantic Search For Survivors Continues; 1,500 Injured, Tens Of Thousands Homeless

(CBS/AP)  Rescue workers using bare hands and buckets searched frantically for students believed buried in a wrecked dormitory after Italy's deadliest quake in nearly three decades struck this medieval city before dawn Monday, killing more than 150 people, injuring 1,500 and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake buckled both ancient and modern buildings in and around L'Aquila, snuggled in a valley surrounded by the snowcapped Apennines' tallest peaks.

The Corriere Della Sera newspaper is reporting that more than 250 people are missing.

It also took a severe toll on the centuries-old castles and churches in the mountain stronghold dating from the Middle Ages, and the Culture Ministry drew up a list of landmarks that were damaged, including collapsed bell towers and cupolas.

The quake, centered near L'Aquila about 70 miles northeast of Rome, struck at 3:22 a.m., followed by more than a dozen aftershocks.

With the early morning temperature hovering just above freezing, every possible rescue force was called into action, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Firefighters with dogs and a crane worked feverishly to reach people trapped in fallen buildings, including a dormitory of the University of L'Aquila where a half- dozen students were believed trapped inside.

After nightfall Monday, rescuers found a scared-looking dog with a bleeding paw in the half-collapsed dorm. Relatives and friends of the missing stood wrapped in blankets or huddled under umbrellas in the rain as rescuers found pieces of furniture, photographs, wallets and diaries, but none of the missing.

The body of a male student was found during the daylight hours.

"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," said Luigi Alfonsi, 22, his eyes filling with tears and his hands trembling. "I was in bed - it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me."

Elsewhere in town, firefighters reported pulling a 21-year-old woman and a 22-year-man from a pancaked five-story apartment building where many students had rented flats.

Amid aftershocks, survivors hugged one another, prayed quietly or tried to call relatives. Residents covered in dust pushed carts of clothes and blankets that they had thrown together before fleeing their homes.

The epicenter was close to the surface, which makes the tremors more powerful and devastating, Pizzey reports.

Slabs of walls, twisted steel supports, furniture and wire fences were strewn in the streets, and gray dust was everywhere. A body lay on the sidewalk, covered by a white sheet.

Residents and rescue workers hauled debris from collapsed buildings by hand or in a bucket brigade. Firefighters pulled a woman covered in dust from her four-story home. Rescue crews demanded quiet as they listened for signs of life from inside.

RAI television showed rescue workers gingerly pulling a man clad only in his underwear from a crumbled building. He embraced one of his rescuers and sobbed loudly as others placed a jacket around his shoulders. Although shaken and covered in dust, the man was able to walk.

Some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed, officials said. L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said about 100,000 people were homeless. It was not clear if his estimate included surrounding towns.

Many of the homeless will spend the night in a hastily erected tent city in a sports field on the edge of town, reliant on whatever food and aid that can be handed out, Pizzey reports.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi said in a TV interview that more than 150 people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured. He had already declared a state of emergency, freeing federal funds for the disaster, and canceled a trip to Russia.

The quake hit 26 towns and cities around L'Aquila. Castelnuovo, a hamlet of about 300 people southeast of L'Aquila, appeared hard hit with five confirmed dead. The town of Onno, population 250, was almost leveled.

Meanwhile, an Italian seismologist is demanding an apology after officials reportedly dismissed his warnings of the impending quake and reported him to the police for spreading panic

Pope Benedict XVI prayed "for the victims, in particular for children," and sent a condolence message to the archbishop of L'Aquila, the Vatican said. Condolences poured in from around the world, including from President Barack Obama.

Parts of L'Aquila's main hospital were evacuated due to the risk of collapse, and only two operating rooms were in use. Bloodied victims waited in corridors or a courtyard, and many were being treated in the open. A field hospital was being set up.

The four-star, 133-room Hotel Duca degli Abruzzi in L'Aquila's historic center was heavily damaged but still standing, said Ornella De Luca of the national civil protection agency in Rome.

Though not a major tourist destination like Rome, Venice or Florence, L'Aquila boasts ancient fortifications and tombs of saints.

Many Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance landmarks were damaged, including part of the red-and-white stone basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio. The church houses the tomb of its founder, Pope Celestine V - a 13th-century hermit and saint who was the only pontiff to resign from the post.

The bell tower of the 16th-century San Bernardino church and the cupola of the Baroque Sant'Agostino church also fell, the ministry said. Stones tumbled down from the city's cathedral, which was rebuilt after a 1703 earthquake.

"The damage is more serious than we can imagine," said Giuseppe Proietti, a Culture Ministry official. "The historic center of L'Aquila has been devastated."

The city's own cultural offices, housed in a 16th-century Spanish castle, were shut down by damage, Proietti said. The damaged fortifications, once perfectly preserved, are also home to a museum of archaeology and art.

L'Aquila, whose name means "The Eagle" in Italian, was built around 1240 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and was under French, Spanish and papal domination during the centuries. The high-flying bird was both the emblem of Frederick and reflects the 2,300-foot altitude of the proud city.

Proietti said in a telephone interview that reports from the countryside showed many villages around L'Aquila had been heavily damaged, including churches "of great historical interest."

Damage to monuments was reported as far as Rome, with minor cracks at the thermal baths built in the 3rd century by Emperor Caracalla, he said.

A makeshift tent city was set up on a sports field on the outskirts of L'Aquila. Civil protection officials distributed bread and water to evacuees.

"It's a catastrophe and an immense shock," said Renato Di Stefano, who moved his family to the camp. "It's struck in the heart of the city. We will never forget the pain."

It was Italy's deadliest quake since Nov. 23, 1980, when one measuring 6.9-magnitude hit southern regions, leveling villages and killing 3,000.

Many modern structures have failed to hold up to the rigors of quakes along Italy's mountainous spine or in coastal cities like Naples. Despite warnings by geologists and architects, some of these buildings have not been retrofitted for seismic safety.

"The collapses that occurred in Abruzzo involved houses that weren't built to withstand a quake that wasn't particularly violent," said Enzo Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology.

"We get all worked up after every earthquake, but it's not in our culture to construct buildings the right way in a quake zone, that is, build buildings that can resist (quakes) and retrofit old ones. This has never been done," Boschi said.

The last major quake in central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.

[cbsantispin]

"Be hospitable to one another without complaint."

(1 Peter 4:9)

[gnimelf1968]

Why can't everyone just agree to disagree? Let those of us who believe in God and the words of the Bible believe what we want to believe and let those of you who don't believe in God believe whatever it is you want to believe? Why does everyone feel it necessary to try to prove the otherside wrong? Believe what you want and leave it at that.

[omded]

Erb0087,
From your post, I can see that you're familiar with geology, and, just to make sure I don't offend anyone else here today, I must say that I completely agree with you. All of this religious babble is complete nonsense.

But, for the sake of the religious, I must present their side of the story, using their logic. According to the late, but very great and most reverend on high Jerry Fallwell, God only allows things like this to happen to people who are sinners, and, particularly, to Gay people. So, based on this divine logic, we can only conclude that there must be a lot of gay people in Central Italy. In fact, based on the extent of damage, and the number of lives lost and displaced from this catastrophe, we can only conclude that either a whole lot of Italians are gay, or that a very high ranking Italian is gay. Well, if you walk up to the average Italian and ask, "are you gay?" He'll answer 'no." So, since we know Italians do not lie, we must therefore conclude that a very high ranking individual in Italy must be gay. Well, the highest ranking person within 100 miles of the epicenter is the Pope. So, we now have indisputable, and scientific proof that the Pope is gay. Oh heavens above! What a startling revelation this is indeed!!! I strongly recommend that everyone dress themselves in sack cloth immediately and fast from all meat products in atonement for their sins, and for the sins of the Pope. If we don't do so right away, the world surely will come to an end, and we will all be cast into Hell where we will burn for all eternity, and without coffee breaks.

[erb0087]

Luke 21:10-11

10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
Posted by Hyptnotized [sic]_Liberals at 3:04 PM : Apr 6, 2009
======================

That isn't what causes earthquakes. They are not caused by supernatural characters or their self serving remarks.

Earthquakes will occur anywhere within the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane.

[cs4466]

Luke 21:10-11

10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
Posted by Hyptnotized_Liberals at 3:04 PM : Apr 6, 2009

Shouldn't you be holding a sign that says "Repent! The End Is Coming!", smell funny and be bothering people at the airport? Or is this your new slum spot?

[searingtruth]

"...how do we stop earthquakes...how do you people even figure out how to log on here"
rtist4merlyknwndannyc1975


By investing in research to predict, and ultimately stop, them.

As I stated in A Future of the Brave years ago.

Instead of giving trillions of dollars to billionaires because our politicians have been massively bribed, for decades, we could use the money to stop such needless tragedy, and in less than a hundred years advance humanities technology and morality beyond anything most could comprehend today.
ST


"Yes indeed, I have a new plan, for all of you. A plan of hope. A plan of adventure. A plan of such extraordinary magnitude as to take the breath, and challenge the senses, of all who would consider it. A plan to bind our common people in hope, and finally free our conscience for noble purpose."
SearingTruth, A Future of the Brave

A Future of the Brave

[jericolover]

First I read an article about hundreds of people dying and thousands homeless. Then I read so many hateful comments posted about the Pope, gays, Catholics, pedophiles, retribution, quotes from the bible??? These are human beings folks...just like us...thousands of innocent children, men, women, people from all walks of life. They speak a different language, have different ethnic traditions but they are just like us. I fear that these comment sections the networks give us to post our thoughts are, more and more, becoming a forum for the sickest and most fanatical among us. To the people of Italy...my sincere apologies for what you might read here. My thoughts and prayers are with you. This blog is not a clear representation of American views. The sick posts you read here represent the small percentage of vile humanity that exists in every culture and every corner of the world.

[liselle3]

omded
I just read more of your comments... tell me how the heck to you turn a tragedy such as this into a forum for your anit-gay diatribes? How are the two related? Also - you know the old saying "thou doesth protest too loudly"... You seem to be a little overly concerned about gay people, perhaps you should mind your own backyard.

[liselle3]

omded
My goodness, a little bitter?

[omded]

It sounds like a certain person who goes by the post name "hypnotized_liberals" is himself hypnotized by his "holy book", and his preachers of mass deception. Tell me, h_l, do you actually want to see all of your prophecies come true?