Central Italy has been hit by a powerful earthquake in the same regions rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down.
Firefighters and rescuers in Norcia carry a woman after the quake. About 20 people were injured but none critically. Photo: AFP
The 6.6-magnitude quake - Italy's strongest in decades - struck close to the region where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August.
This time no-one appears to have died, but about 20 people were injured.
The medieval basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre, was among buildings destroyed.
The quake was bigger than the 6.2 earthquake in August, which killed almost 300 people in the region and levelled several small towns. Many people have fled the area since then, helping to avoid a new devastating death toll.
With thousands already made homeless, a leading seismologist warned that the earthquakes could go on for weeks in a domino effect along the central Apennine fault system.
The latest quake was felt across much of Italy, striking at 7.40 am, its epicentre close to the historic Umbrian walled town of Norcia, some 100km from the university city of Perugia.
Panicked Norcia residents rushed into the streets and the town's ancient Basilica of St. Benedict collapsed, leaving just the facade standing. Nuns, monks and locals sank to their knees in the main square in silent prayer before the shattered church.
"This is a tragedy. It is a coup de grace. The basilica is devastated," Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia said.
"Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits' end," he said, referring to the thousands of tremors that have rattled the area since August, including two serious quakes last week.
Italy's Civil Protection unit, which coordinates disaster relief, said numerous houses were destroyed in the regions of Umbria and Marche, but either they were deserted at the time or most of the residents managed to escape in time.
Civil Protection chief Fabrizio Curcio said no deaths had been reported and around 20 people were injured, none of them critically. He said it was too early to say how many more people had lost their homes.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised a massive reconstruction effort regardless of cost.
Experts said Sunday's quake was the strongest here since a 6.9 quake in Italy's south in 1980 that killed 2,735 people .
Basilica a loss to Italy's heritage
The destruction of the Norcia basilica was the single most significant loss of Italy's artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, which is 80 km to the north.
A street in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre of the quake. Photo: AFP
The frescoed basilica, which is the spiritual, historic and tourist heart of Norcia, was built over the site of the home where the founder of the Benedictine order and his Sister St. Scolastica were born in 480.
The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St. Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.
Benedict founded the Benedictine order in Subiaco, near Rome. He died in 530 in the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, which was destroyed during WWII. That monastery was later rebuilt.
A number of other churches were also ruined, Italian media reported, including Norcia's Cattedrale di Santa Maria, which was built in the 16th century, while the town hall belltower had deep cracks running through its walls.
However, most of Norcia's homes appeared to have withstood the prolonged tremor, with residents praising years of investment by local authorities in anti-seismic protection.
In the nearby city of Rieti, patients were evacuated from a hospital to allow experts to check on structural damage, while hill roads across the region were littered with fallen rocks.
A street in Norica, the town closest to the epicentre of the quake. Photo: AFP
Sunday's earthquake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.
It was also felt strongly in the capital, Rome, where transport authorities shut down the metro system for precautionary checks. Authorities also toured the city's main Roman Catholic basilicas looking for possible damage.
Italy sits on two geological fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.
Its deadliest quake since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when a tremor followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.
- Reuters
