Morte Di Gambini

EARTHQUAKE

ROME — At least 27 people died and thousands were left homeless when an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 shook central Italy early Monday morning, seriously damaging buildings in the mountainous Abruzzo Region east of Rome, officials told Italian news media.

The epicenter was in L’Aquila, a picturesque Medieval fortress hill town, where at least eight people died and more were trapped under rubble, officials said. Aftershocks shuddered through the area, hampering rescue efforts.

The situation is “extremely critical, as many buildings have collapsed,” Luca Spoletini, a spokesman for Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, told the ANSA news agency. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency in the region.

ANSA said fatalities were reported from six locations near L’Aquila. . Four children died in hospital after their house collapsed, ANSA reported. A fifth child died in the village of Fossa, eight miles from L’Aquila.

The quake struck around 3:30 a.m. and could be felt as far away as Rome, some 95 miles to the west, where it rattled furniture and set off car alarms.

Part of a student dormitory, a church tower and other historic buildings were reported to have collapsed, ANSA said. L’Aquila cathedral was damaged. Initial reports said one person died when part of the student dormitory crumbled and seven people may be missing in the debris.

Electricity, phone and gas lines were also reported damaged.

Hundreds of L’Aquila’s 80,000 residents rushed from their houses and gathered in the central Piazza Duomo, where nuns from a local convent attended to frightened residents, ANSA reported.

“There are many palazzi that are cracked — walls have fallen in,” Joshua Brothers, an American missionary, told CNN. He also noted that a church in town had been badly damaged. “The bell tower has crumbled,” he said.

He said many people had poured out of their homes after the quake.

“There were people calling for people that they know. They were very worried,” he said. “Most people are outside with luggage.”