Italian earthquake leaves 'at least 150 dead'
Dozens killed in Italian earthquake
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Monday, 06, Apr 2009 06:01
At least 150 people are feared to have been killed in an earthquake in central Italy in the early hours of this morning.
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has declared a state of emergency in the region, told a news conference that 1,500 people had been wounded.
The quake, measuring 6.3 in magnitude, struck at around 03:30 local time (01:30 BST) near the city of L'Aquila.
Local officials claim the death-toll is set to rise and that a number of children are among the casualties. Reports suggest 50,000 people have been left homeless as a result of the quake.
The US Geological Survey claims the earthquake was felt throughout much of central Italy, with its epicentre some 60 miles north-east of Rome.
A statement on the department's website described the cause of the quake: "The April 6th earthquake in central Italy occurred as a result of normal faulting on a NW-SE oriented structure in the central Apennines, a mountain belt that runs from the Gulf of Taranto in the south to the southern edge of the Po basin in northern Italy."
Large earthquakes are relatively rare in Italy. In 2002 over 20 people died in a quake in the southern town of San Giuliano and five years before that, 13 died in an earthquake in the central region of the country.