[EU News] At least 1 dead after earthquake rattles Italian resort island of Isch

Started by lioneatszebra, Aug 21, 2017, 10:56 PM

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lioneatszebra

At least 1 dead after earthquake rattles Italian resort island of Ischia

A deadly 3.6-magnitude earthquake rattled the Italian resort island of Ischia at the peak of tourist season Monday, collapsing some buildings, cutting electricity and sending panicked residents and tourists into the streets.

Italian officials say a woman has died and seven are unaccounted for at the moment.

Doctors reported that about 20 people suffered slight injuries, but officials feared others may be trapped in the rubble.

Italy's national volcanology institute said the temblor struck just before 9 p.m. local time as many people were having dinner.

Television images showed that about six buildings in the town of Casamicciola as well as a church had collapsed, the Reuters news agency reports. 

At least one hotel and parts of the Rizzoli hospital were evacuated (except for patients on respirators). A doctor at the Rizzoli hospital, Roberto Calloca, told Sky TG24 that some 20 people were being treated for minor injuries at a makeshift emergency room set up on the hospital grounds. Calloca said the situation was calm and under control.

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.

Together with the nearby island of Capri, Ischia is a favorite island getaway for the European jet-set, famed in particular for its thermal waters. Casamicciola was the epicenter of an 1883 earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people.


From CBS News
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