MILAN - A strong earthquake struck northern Italy on Tuesday, killing at
least 10 people and spreading panic among residents still living in
tents after a tremor shook the region just over a week ago, destroying
their homes.
Officials and a source from the Italian Red Cross said several people were trapped under the rubble of houses and warehouses in the Emilia-Romagna region. Police said 10 people were confirmed dead but the toll was likely to rise.
"The
situation is very serious, some people are stuck under the rubble,"
Alberto Silvestri, the mayor of the San Felice sul Panaro told
television channel SkyTG24.
The 5.8-magnitude quake struck near Modena and was felt across much of northern and central Italy.
On
May 20, a magnitude 6 earthquake killed seven people and destroyed
hundreds of buildings, including ancient churches and castles, and
forced thousands of people to sleep outdoors in tents.
Italian media said the latest earthquake caused more buildings to collapse.
Train
services around Bologna, near Modena, were disrupted, media said, and
schools and other public buildings had been evacuated as far south as
Florence.
"We felt a very strong tremor," said Raffaella Besola, a resident of Bologna.
The
US Geological Survey said the epicenter of Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude
earthquake, which struck at a depth of 9.6 km (6 miles), was less than
30 km (19 miles) from Modena, not far from where the quake hit just over
a week ago.
Messages posted on Twitter and other social media suggested the tremor was felt across northern Italy.