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The death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Italy rose to 250 with thousands were still displaced on Thursday as rescuers continued a grim search for corpses and powerful aftershocks rocked the devastated area.
The hardest hit places were the towns of Amatrice and Accumoli in Rieti province, and the villages of Arquata del Tronto and Peschiera del Tronto in Marche region.
The bulk of the confirmed deaths -- 193 at the latest count -- were in the small town of Amatrice, where Rita Rosine, 63, wept as she mourned her 75-year-old sister, who was buried under the ruins of her house.
"The situation is worse than in war. It's awful, awful... they say it will take two days to dig her out because they have to shore up the surrounding buildings," she told AFP.
"She didn't deserve to die like that, she was so good."
Relief map of Italy locating the epicentre of Wednesday's 6.2-magnitude quake. Photo By: AFP
Of the total 250 victims confirmed so far, some 193 were in Amatrice, 11 in Accumoli, and 46 in Arquata del Tronto, the civil protection department said.
The number of people injured and hospitalized rose to 365, it added.
As hopes of finding any more survivors in the rubble faded, questions mounted as to why there had been so many deaths in a sparsely-populated area so soon after a 2009 earthquake in the nearby city of L'Aquila left 300 people dead.
That disaster, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) south, underscored the region's vulnerability to seismic events -- but preparations for a fresh quake have been exposed as limited at best.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced on Thursday the launch of a plan to help better prepare Italy for earthquakes.
"Italy should have plan that is not just limited to the management of emergency situations," he said after a Cabinet meeting.
Renzi admitted that Italy has a difficult task ahead to secure buildings -- and its vast collection of historical heritage -- against quake damage, but said that modern technology could play a role.
He also stressed that priority would be given to securing "a place to sleep" for those who had lost their homes in the quake.
Giuseppe Saieva, the chief public prosecutor for most of the area affected, said he would be opening an investigation into whether anyone could be held responsible for the disaster.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said Thursday that some 293 historical buildings were damaged or destroyed by the quake.
The state of emergency will allow allocating an immediate first tranche of 50 million euros (56 million U.S. dollars) to assist those displaced.
On Wednesday, the Economy Ministry had overall pledged 234 million euros (264 million U.S. dollars) from a national emergency fund to help people living in the destroyed towns.
Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan would now provide tax exemption to the families living in the areas.
No new survivors
In Amatrice, a 4.3 magnitude aftershock shook the already badly damaged village on Thursday, fuelling fears of fresh collapses which could hamper the rescue operation.
The death toll also needed to be constantly updated, since many remained unaccounted for.
Amatrice normally has a population of around 2,500. But as a popular destination for holidaymakers, the population swelled in summer, which makes it harder to exactly estimate how many people were present at the time of the quake.
The rescue team.Photo By: AFP / Filippo Monteforte
At least eight foreigners were killed, including three British citizens who were visiting Amatrice, a local official told the BBC. Two Romanians, a Canadian, a Spanish national and one woman from El Salvador were also killed, according to the countries' respective foreign ministries.
A total of 215 people have been rescued from the rubble since Wednesday morning. But there have been no reports of survivors being found since Wednesday evening, when eight-year-old Giorgia was rescued 16 hours after being trapped, having been located by a labrador called Leo.
Her parents also survived but her 10-year-old sister did not make it.
"What happens tomorrow?"
Hundreds of people spent Wednesday night sleeping in their cars or in hastily-assembled tents, the aftershocks adding to their discomfort.
Meanwhile, several tent cities were set up around Accumoli, Arquata and Pescara del Tronto. In Amatrice, displaced families spent last night in the town's main sport facility.
Overall, some 3,400 places were made available since Wednesday, and about 1,200 people were accommodated there, according to Italian civil protection emergency chief Titti Postiglione.
Displaced families in the tents cities.Photo By: AFP/Mario Laporta
Mario, a father of two small boys, said he was still in shock. "We slept in the car last night, though with the quakes it was hard to sleep at all," he told AFP.
"We've booked a tent for tonight. But then tomorrow, the next day?"
The extensive damage to lightly-used properties has raised the spectre of some of the smaller hamlets in the region becoming ghost towns.
"If we don't get help, l'Arquata is finished," said Aleandro Petrucci, the mayor of Arquata del Tronto, which accounted for 57 of the confirmed deaths to date.
Petrucci said it was impossible to say exactly how many people were in the 13 tiny communities that make up l'Arquata when the disaster struck.
In Pescara del Tronto, which was virtually razed by the quake, there are only four permanently resident families but there could have been up to 300 people there on Wednesday.
Volunteers and Red Cross workers prepare a temporary encampment for residents of earthquake affected areas in Amatrice. Photo By:AFP / Mario Laporta
Measuring 6.0-6.2 magnitude, the quake's epicentre was near Amatrice and its shallow depth of four kilometers (2.5 miles) exacerbated its impact.
It occurred without warning but in an area with a long history of killer quakes.
The Civil Protection agency which is coordinating the rescue effort said that in addition to the dead, 365 people had suffered injuries serious enough to be hospitalised. Several of them are in a critical state.
As time goes by, the chance to find someone still alive under the rubbles would grow weaker. Furthermore, over 600 aftershocks have been registered since Wednesday, and some of them intense, making search activities more risky.
A 4.3-magnitude quake was indeed registered in Rieti province at 2:36 p.m. local time (1236 GMT) on Thursday, according to the National Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (INGV).
The rescue team.Photo By: AFP / Filippo Monteforte
It made some damaged buildings in Amatrice tremble dangerously, and more ruins collapsed where rescuers were at work.
Overall, nine quakes of magnitude between 4.0 and 5.0, and one exceeding magnitude 5.0 have occurred till Thursday mid-afternoon, the INGV stated.
"Nothing ever done"
After L'Aquila, the Civil Protection agency made almost one billion euros available for upgrading buildings in seismically-vulnerable areas.
But the take-up of grants has been low -- because of form-filling attached, critics say.
"Here in the middle of a seismic zone, nothing has ever been done," said Dario Nanni of the Italian Council of Architects.
"It does not cost that much more when renovating a building to make it comply with earthquake standards. But less than 20 percent of buildings do."
After the emergency meeting, Renzi also noted the country's need to improve its seismic safety.
He stressed that a serious long-term plan of reconstruction was needed.
(AFP)
