At least 38 people have died and dozens are missing in the earthquake of 6.0 magnitude on the Richter scale which struck central Italy in early today, reported the Italian Civil Protection.
According to the latest data provided in a press conference by the head of the Civil Protection emergencies, Immacolata Postiglione, at the moment are 38 fatalities, but explained that "there are many people still under the rubble."
According to Postiglione, there have been ten victims in Arquata area, in the region of Marche; another 27 in the area between the villages of Accumoli and Amatrice; while the place to be confirmed another of them.
The earthquake of 6.0 degrees occurred at 03.36 local time (01.36 GMT) near the town of Accumoli, in the province of Rieti, and its epicenter was located just 4 kilometers deep, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy.
The earthquake has been followed by several aftershocks, including one of 3.9 degrees near Norcia, in the province of Perugia; another near Amatrice 4.6 and another 5.5 degrees near Norcia.
The towns worst hit by the earthquake have been Amatrice and Accumoli, in the province of Rieti, and Pescara del Tronto province of Ascoli, to which the hamlet of Arquata, where there have been a dozen victims belong.
The peoples of Accumoli and Amatrice have been heavily damaged hundreds of houses completely destroyed, while their mayors explained that half of these localities "no longer exist".
The mayor of Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, explained that for the time in your area have recovered the bodies of three people and there are 8 serious injuries, but that the figure will rise as many people are under the rubble, like a marriage with her two small children who show signs of life for hours.
Civil Protection teams and the Italian Army working on relief efforts in Amatrice to find possible survivors, who have joined members of the Forestry Corps, as well as many neighbors.
Also dozens of people are being rescued alive under the rubble several hours after an earthquake occurred at 03.36 local time (01.36 GMT) in central Italy.
The media have reported how slowly people were pulled alive from the rubble, as the case of a man of 65 years in Accumoli, found under a house that is totally sank.
In Pescara del Tronto have been rescued two children aged 4 and 7 years to his grandmother, with whom they were at the time of the earthquake, did crawl under the bed as she began to feel the quake, they reported the same media.
The earthquake injured are being shifted to nearby hospitals such as the city of Rieti and L'Aquila, which saw the devastating earthquake of 2009, as medical centers in the area have been damaged.
Hospital staff Amatrice, which was inaccessible by the quake, attends the wounded that are arriving on an esplanade.
Rome in hospitals have been admitted six injured, two of them seriously, who were transferred by helicopter from the affected areas.