Earthquake Strikes Italian Island of Ischia, Killing at Least 2

Two women have died and 39 people were injured – at least one of them seriously – after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck the Italian island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, reported The Guardian. 

One woman was buried under the rubble of her home in the town of Casamicciola, some 3km (2 miles) north of the epicentre, while the other was killed after being hit by debris falling from a church.

Aftershocks were felt as rescue teams worked through the night, pulling alive a seven-month-old baby from a collapsed home. Rescuers were still searching for the child’s siblings, aged four and six, on Tuesday morning. Their parents were reported to be alive.

The quake’s strength was revised up to magnitude 4.0 by the INGV, Italy’s seismic observatory, after initially being reported at 3.6.

The earthquake comes two days ahead of the first anniversary of an earthquake in central Italy in which almost 300 people died. Ischia’s deadliest quake occurred in 1883, killing 2,300.

On Monday, residents and tourists on the island, which is crowded at the height of the summer season, ran out on to the streets from homes and hospitals. News reports suggested the hardest-hit area was Casamicciola on the northern part of the island.

Television images showed about six buildings in the town as well as a church had collapsed in the quake, which hit just before 9pm, just as many people were having dinner.

At least one hotel and parts of a hospital were evacuated. Roberto Allocca, a doctor from a local hospital, told Sky TG24 television that at least 20 people were being treated for minor injuries at a makeshift emergency room set up on the hospital grounds. Allocca said the situation was calm and under control.

Most of the hospital had been evacuated and the injured were being treated outside.

Civil protection crews, already on the island in force to fight the forest fires that have been ravaging southern Italy, were checking the status of the buildings that suffered damage, while more were arriving from the mainland.

The television reports said the buildings that had collapsed appeared to have been inhabited and a number of people were still unaccounted for.

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