L'AQUILA, Italy – A powerful earthquake struck central Italy early Monday, killing at least 20 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless, officials and news reports said.



Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue crews made their way through the debris. Firefighters aided by dogs were trying to rescue people from crumbled homes, including a student dormitory in the city of L'Aquila where half a dozen university students were believed trapped.

Outside the half-collapsed dorm, tearful students huddled together wrapped in blankets, some still in their slippers.

"We managed to come down with other students but we had to sneak through a hole in the stairs as the whole floor came down," said student Luigi Alfonsi, 22. "I was in bed — it was like it would never end as I heard pieces of the building collapse around me."

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3, though Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8.

The quake struck about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Rome at 3:32 a.m. local time (0132 GMT), officials said. The Civil Protection Department said the epicenter was near L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region.

By early morning, the death toll stood at 20, including five children, with some 30 people unaccounted for, carabinieri paramilitary police said. In addition to L'Aquila, the town of Castelnuovo appeared hard hit, with five of the dead there.

"It's the worst tragedy since the start of the millennium," said Guido Bertolaso, the head of the Civil Protection Department.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster. He said he was weighing whether to cancel a planned visit to Russia to deal with the crisis.

In L'Aquila, residents and rescue workers were hauling away debris from collapsed buildings by hand while bloodied victims waited to be tended to in hospital hallways or outside in the hospital courtyard. On the city's dusty streets as aftershocks continued to rumble through, residents hugged one another, prayed quietly or frantically tried to call relatives.

"We left as soon as we felt the first tremors," said Antonio D'Ostilio, 22, as he stood on a street in L'Aquila with a huge suitcase piled with clothes he had thrown together. "We woke up all of a sudden and we immediately ran downstairs in our pajamas."

Nearby, firefighters successfully pulled a woman covered in dust from the debris of her four-story home. Rescue crews demanded quiet as they listened for signs of life from other people believed still trapped inside.

Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged.

"This means that the we'll have several thousand people to assist over the next few weeks and months," Miozzo told Sky Italia. "Our goal is to give shelter to all by tonight."

Four children died in L'Aquila after their houses collapsed, the ANSA news agency said. They quoted doctors at the main San Salvatore dell'Aquila hospital as saying there was nothing they could do for them.

ANSA said the dome of a church in L'Aquila collapsed, while the city's cathedral also suffered damages.

L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said some 100,000 people had left their homes and that many buildings in the city's historic center were damaged.

A series of jolts have struck the area over the past two days.

In one area, bulldozers were already hauling away enormous slabs of buildings that had spilled over cars and onto the street.

L'Aquila, a medieval city, lies in a valley surrounded by the Apennine mountains. It is the regional capital of the Abruzzo region, with about 70,000 inhabitants.

Bertolaso likened Monday's quake to the temblors that struck the central Umbria region on Sept. 26, 1997. That quake killed 10 people and devastated medieval buildings and churches, including Assisi's famed basilica, across the region.

The last major quake to hit central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.

Italy quake kills at least 150; scores saved

L'AQUILA, Italy, (AFP) - - Rescuers scrambled in the dark to find survivors from a powerful earthquake in central Italy that killed at least 150 people as thousands of homeless sought shelter in hastily built tent cities.

With nightfall adding to the driving rain hampering the search, emergency services said 100 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of Renaissance and Baroque buildings around the historic town L'Aquila since the quake struck early Monday.

The government has estimated that up to 70,000 people have been left homeless by the quake which measured magnitude 6.2 that damaged 10,000 buildings, many beyond repair.

The epicentre was under L'Aquila and massive destruction was reported for 30 kilometers (20 miles) in all directions from the town. The nearby villages of Villa Sant'Angelo and Borgo di Castelnuovo were practically wiped out.

Many residents fled L'Aquila , some even on foot. Others were lucky enough to find shelter in army barracks, stadiums and sports centres as overnight temperatures were expected to dip to four degrees Celsius (39 Fahrenheit).

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency in the Abruzzo region and cancelled a trip to Russia in order to visit L'Aquila, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Rome.

He said an initial 30 million euros (40 million dollars) had been earmarked to help the region.

Rescue workers said at least 150 people were killed, of which 98 had already been identified, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. while Berlusconi told a news conference here that 1,500 people were injured.

"No one will be abandoned to his fate," he vowed, adding that a tent village was being set up that could accommodate between 16,000 and 20,000 people.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni pledged 1,700 additional rescuers, including 1,500 firefighters.

He said rescue efforts would continue working "day and night", and television footage showed rescue workers in L'Aquila toiling under huge lights after night fell.

But much of the town was quiet in the evening as most residents had left.

"Some of the inhabitants have left of their own will, while others have been escorted by the authorities," a public safety official told AFP.

"You can say that most of the old city has been emptied of its residents," adding that it was mostly elderly people who decided to stay.

The quake struck just after 3:30 am (0130 GMT) and lasted about 30 seconds, bringing down many historic buildings, including the dome on the 16th century San Bernardino church. The city's cathedral was also damaged.

Roofs caved in on sleeping inhabitants and boulders fell off mountain slopes blocking many roads. At least five children were among the dead in L'Aquila, according to police.

Doctors treated people in the open air outside L'Aquila's main hospital as only one operating room was functioning.

L'Aquila resident Maria Francesco said: "It was the apocalypse, 20 minutes of hell, our house collapsed. It's destroyed, and there's nothing left to recover."

"It's a scandal what's happened," she told AFP. "For the past three months there have been regular tremors, and they've been getting stronger and stronger!"

Luigi D'Andrea, a student, was asleep when the quake struck and escaped through a neighbour's flat, only to return to recover his computer. "I'm very lucky I wasn't hurt, but now I don't know what to do, whether I should leave here or not. I'll wait and see."

L'Aquila suffered the biggest toll while police reported deaths in the towns and villages of Castelnuovo, Poggio Picenze, Torminparte, Fossa, Totani and Villa Sant'Angelo, ANSA reported.

Offers of help poured in from around the world.

"We want to send our condolences to the families there," US President Barack Obama said during an official visit in Turkey.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the US embassy in Rome would provide 50,000 dollars in emergency relief funding, while US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi telephoned Berlusconi to offer condolences.

Italian authorities told countries offering assistance they did not need rescue teams.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon was "saddened by the loss of life and destruction of property in central Italy," his spokeswoman said.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said his country was shocked by the tragedy , adding: "We sympathise with those who have suffered and share their sorrow."

Pope Benedict XVI sent his prayers, the Vatican said.

Italy is criss-crossed by two fault lines, making it one of Europe's most quake-vulnerable regions , with some 20 million people at risk.

Italy holds state funeral for quake victims

By Guy Dinmore in L’Aquila, and Giulia Segreti in Rome, Italy

Italy united in mourning on Good Friday with an open-air state funeral for the victims of this week’s devastating earthquake in the central Abruzzo region, even as grief turned to anger amid unanswered questions over why many of the nearly 300 victims were buried beneath modern but sub-standard buildings.

Thousands of mourners gathered in the compound of the Finance Police college on the edge of the medieval town of L’Aquila, facing 205 coffins -- white for children and plain wood for adults -- and a makeshift altar as no churches in the area were considered safe or big enough for the ceremony.

A toy motorbike and a yellow cushion were placed on top of the coffin of three-year-old Andrea Esposito who rested on the casket of his mother Valentina. A man pressed his face to the white wood as if seeking a sound from within. Nearby an elderly woman in a wheelchair collapsed wailing on the coffins of her family as crowds of relatives reached out for a last touch.

Rescue workers from all over Italy, some still smeared with the grey dust of four days of burying into rubble for survivors, acted as pall bearers. A rugby jersey adorned the coffin of Lorenzo Sebastiani, a player in the national Under-21 team. The youngest, Antonio Iovan, was just four months old, his coffin not even half a metre long.

President Giorgio Napolitano, government ministers and Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister, attended the funeral, which was given special dispensation by Pope Benedict XVI to be performed on a day normally reserved for Easter rites.

“In this moment the whole of Italy is together, a country which has demonstrated how the values of solidarity and fraternity are still solid, and characterise Italy,” Cardinal Tarciso Bertone said, giving the sermon.

Pope Benedict, who intends to visit the region after Easter, sent a message also calling for solidarity and commending the state for its “praiseworthy” response to the quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale and the worst to strike Italy in nearly 30 years. The latest official death toll, rising daily, stands at 287, with an estimated 30,000 people left homeless. Many are now sheltering in tents provided by relief organisations.

But amid the outpouring of national grief, and much praise for the relief effort, mourners expressed mounting anger over why anti-seismic construction laws appeared to have been flouted by major construction companies. About a dozen university students were killed in a relatively modern hostel in L’Aquila, while the comparatively new hospital was also seriously damaged and had to be evacuated.

Prosecutors have opened investigations into the collapse of key buildings, suspecting Mafia involvement in shoddy construction using sub-standard concrete and iron. Officials are also expressing concern that organised crime will also try to exploit the billions of euros that will be spent on reconstruction. Experts have said a quake of similar magnitude in California would probably have claimed no victims.

Antonio, a 66-year-old farmer from the village of Paganica, who lost a cousin, said Italy’s biggest problem was that laws existed but were not respected or enforced. “No one ever pays for their crimes in this country. They should have their heads cut off,” he said shaking.

“I am full of praise and admiration for the rescue workers, the police, everyone who helped. Italians have a big heart,” he said. “But as for the government and the law…” he added, not finishing his sentence. He praised Marco Travaglio, an investigative journalist, who in a television report on Thursday night named major construction companies he accused of being complicit with organised crime in carrying out shoddy public building contracts.

President Napolitano’s comments on visiting the area on Thursday -- “everyone must look into their consciences” -- made front-page headlines that resonated across Italy.

Mindful that governments will be long judged by their response, Mr Berlusconi has made four visits to the quake zone and promised a long commitment to the reconstruction, even proposing that a new town be built near L’Aquila. The whole historic centre of the town has been declared unsafe for all. Aftershocks are still bringing buildings down almost daily.

Decades have passed in Italy before victims of past quakes have been given proper housing. “Temporary” and primitive barracks erected in the wake of the 1908 Messina earthquake -- the most devastating to hit Europe in modern times - are still lived in by 3,100 families, according to a recent report by environmental activists.