NORCIA: Earthquake aftershocks gave central Italy no respite on Tuesday, haunting a region where thousands of people were left homeless and frightened by a massive weekend tremor that razed centuries-old towns.
As the country observed the religious holiday of All Saints’ Day, tremors were coming at a rate of several per hour in the mountainous region 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Rome, the national geological institute said Tuesday.
More than 1,100 have been registered since Sunday’s magnitude-6.6 quake, the strongest to hit Italy in 36 years.
The strongest aftershock, at magnitude-4.7, hit Tuesday morning. Italian TV Sky reported some further buildings had collapsed in at least two villages, and the impact was felt as far away as Rome.
The tremors are taxing a population that’s already on edge, with 15,000 in need of housing, according to civil protection officials. The figure does not include the 2,000 who remained displaced from a first deadly quake in August, which left 300 dead. The civil protection agency estimates that a total of about 100,000 people have been affected in some way by Sunday’s quake, whether through damage to property or being frightened out of their homes. While thousands have been moved to live in empty hotels on the coast, out of harm’s way, a growing number of residents insist on staying put. Some sleep in cars, others argue they have businesses to tend to, or think that if their homes are still standing they remain the safest place to be. Because the weather is getting cold in the mountain villages, with night temperatures nearing freezing point, the government does not want to build extensive tent housing. Three such tents hosted 10 to 12 people Monday night in the town of Norcia, which suffered extensive damage, including the collapse of a Medieval basilica that has been the symbolic heart of the Benedictine order for centuries and a big draw for tourists. Many locals are livestock owners who cannot relocate because they need to stay near their animals at night or find herds that have dispersed.