A powerful pre-dawn earthquake devastated mountain villages in central Italy on Wednesday, leaving at least 73 people dead, dozens more injured or trapped under the rubble and thousands temporarily homeless. Italy's civil protection unit confirmed 73 fatalities in and around the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto. It was packed with visitors when the quake struck at 3.36 AM (0136 GMT). In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck close to the university city of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region and left more than 300 people dead. David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at Britain's Open University, said Wednesday's quake had been similar to the 2009 one.

Source: dna August 24, 2016 15:45 UTC