Catastrophic earthquake hit central Italy two days ago and, according to the latest information published by the Italian media, around 300 people lost their lives while hundreds are injured.
The earthquake was magnitude 6.5 on Richter scale and the epicenter was in the area of Perugia, around 170 kilometers northwestern from Rome. The most heavily hit area is between the regions Lacio, Marca, Umbria and Abruzzo, where towns of Accumoli, Amatrice, Posta and Arquata del Tronto are entirely devastated.
A citizen of BiH who was around 50 kilometers away from the epicenter at the moment when the earthquake started testified about this horrible disaster. He said that situation in the towns which suffered the most damage is catastrophic.
“I was sleeping when everything started shaking. The bed was literally jumping, alarms went on outside. When I figured out what was going on, I ran to the street. After that, we waited at the reception desk until seven in the morning, to see what happens,” said this man.
World media reported that some places were completely destroyed, and this man confirmed that.
“Believe me when I say that situation in the most heavily hit places is catastrophic. I am currently in Rieta. However, situation is terrible only some 30 kilometers away. Two places are entirely destroyed. Latest information say that around 300 people were killed and that many people are still being searched for. Helicopters fly all the time and, unfortunately, I must say that around 90 percent of the found people are dead,” this man said.
This man said that there were around 250 smaller earthquakes after this major one, and that some of them could be felt on the surface.
“Locals are afraid and that is entirely understandable. This region is known for devastating earthquakes. Three hundred people were killed by an earthquake in 2009 here. The only topic in the media across Italy is this disaster, especially because the number of casualties grows and it is still not known how many people are buried under the ruins,” this man said, adding that he has no information on whether any BiH citizens were victims of the earthquake.
(Source: avaz.ba)