A strong earthquake in central Italy reduced three towns to rubble as people slept early Wednesday.
The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 am and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.
It was Italy’s most powerful earthquake since the 2009 disaster in L’Aquila. Most of the deaths occurred in and around the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto.
Rescuers had pledged to work through the night in the hope of finding people alive in the mangled wreckage of homes. Hundreds of people spent a chilly night in hastily assembled tents with the risk of aftershocks making it too risky for them to return home.
