Italy Earthquake 2009: Italy Earthquake Today Kills Many People & Destroyed Historic Buildings (Photos)

A massive earthquake rocked central Italy and hundreds are feared dead. Many historic buildings were also destroyed. Read more on today’s earthquake in Italy and photos below.

Rescuers are still searching for survivors as dozens of aftershocks continue to plague the area interfering with rescue efforts.

TV footage showed rescuers racing away from the rubble of a ruined house as a tremor hit, sending parts of the building flying.

Gianfranco Fini, speaker of Italy’s lower house of parliament, said entire towns have been “virtually destroyed” with 15,000 buildings off limits.

The epicentre of the earthquake was close to the city of L’Aquila in the centre of Italy, about 100 miles north east of Rome.

The village of Onna, close to L’Aquila, was “wiped off the map” with no houses left standing, according to one emergency official.

In the fields outside, row after row of coffins were lined up and officials said at least 50 of the 400 inhabitants are dead.

The earthquake struck at just after 3.30am local time and measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cancelled a visit to Moscow and immediately flew to the scene, calling the area a “disaster zone”.

He has declared a state of emergency for the central Abruzzo region where the quake struck.

After flying over the scene in a helicopter he said: “At the moment 4,000 rescuers are at work and concentrating on extracting people from the rubble.”

He added that a camp with 2,000 tents, each capable of housing eight to 10 people, was currently being set up in L’Aquila for those who had lost their homes in the disaster.

Around 4,000 beds in hotels in the area have also been reserved for survivors.

The earthquake that killed scores of people in central Italy today has severely damaged a series of important historic buildings, including a famous medieval church and one of the country’s best-preserved Renaissance castles.

At least four old churches were also damaged. Among the buildings destroyed was the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, a pink-and-white stone-faced structure known for its architecture and for an annual pilgrimage honouring a 13th-century pope, Celestine V, a former hermit who was both crowned and buried there.

Also damaged was a castle renowned as one of Italy’s best-preserved 16th-century fortresses.

The quake was powerful enough to be felt in Rome, around 60 miles from the epicentre. Heritage officials in the capital said the tremor had been strong enough to damage the third-century Baths of Caracalla, the Roman public baths popular with tourists.

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Posted by: Monya

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