Italian Earthquake Kills at Least 20, Leaves Thousands Homeless

By Jerrold Colten and Andrew Davis

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Italy was hit by an earthquake today that left at least 20 people dead and thousands homeless in the central province of L’Aquila, in what may be the deadliest quake in the country in almost three decades.

There are “certainly more than 20 dead” and the death toll could rise further, Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said in a telephone interview. The damage is “huge,” he added.

The death toll in the quake, which had its epicenter about 60 miles from Rome, topped 40 as of 11:45 a.m., news agency Ansa reported.

More than 10,000 buildings were damaged in the 6.3 magnitude quake, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said. Historic churches, a hospital and thousands of homes and buildings in the province were damaged or destroyed. In Rome effects from the quake could be felt for about a minute. Buildings shook across the city and tremors set off car alarms.

“Several thousand” people will be homeless for months after the earthquake, Agostino Miozzo of the Civil Protection Agency said. “It’s impossible to confirm any numbers for casualties, 10,000 buildings have been damaged.”

The quake struck at 3:32 a.m. local time, 95 kilometers (59 miles) northeast of Rome at a depth of 10 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter was 6 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital, L’Aquila, a city of 68,500 in the Abruzzo region.

Student Dormitory

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency to speed aid to the region and postponed a trip to Moscow, where he was due to lead a delegation of 1,000 Italian business executives and hold a summit with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev. The prime minister is on his way to L’Aquila.

At least seven students were trapped in rubble at a dormitory in L’Aquila, Ansa news agency reported. The body of one student was recovered from the building.

Greek state television channel NET TV reported that one Greek student escaped from the dorm and was in stable condition. Her brother was missing in the rubble, NET TV said.

“Most of our houses collapsed,” a Greek student identified as Elena told NET TV. “We got out just in time.”

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassimis told NET TV the Greek embassy is preparing to airlift students out to Athens.

Italy lies to the north of a zone where the African and Eurasian plates meet. These tectonic plates continuously rub against each other, sometimes causing earthquakes. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Foggia in 2002, to the southeast of the epicenter of today’s quake, left 29 people dead, according to the USGS.

Schools Closed

Guido Bertolaso, head of the Civil Protection Authority, said “there had been several smaller tremors in the days preceding the quake,” but that it wasn’t feasible to evacuate the region. Schools were closed before the earthquake hit as a precaution.

Terna SpA, which operates the country’s electricity grid, said that there were no problems reported on its high-voltage network. Enel SpA, the nation’s largest electricity provider, cut power supplies to 15,000 users as a “security measure” after the quake, a company spokeswoman said.

Main rail routes were operating after the high-speed line between Naples and Rome reopened at 7 a.m., Ferrovie dello Stato, which runs Italy’s national rail service, said in an e- mailed statement. Some regional lines remain closed.

Acea SpA, Rome’s electricity and water utility, said the quake had no impact on services in the city and the surrounding area. The company may provide emergency water service to the stricken region, a company spokesman said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.net. Jerrold Colten in Milan at jcolten@bloomberg.net.