A powerful earthquake, with the strongest tremor reaching magnitude 6, has caused damage and casualties in central Italy. The worst-affected municipalities are Accumoli, Amatrice and Arquata del Tronto.
Update 08:00, 28 August
291 deaths confirmed, a figure that remains provisional, according to Civil Protection. Funerals were held in Ascoli Piceno to commemorate the victims from the Marche region, attended by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who had previously visited the municipalities of Amatrice and Accumoli, among the worst affected.
09:39, 26 August
The death toll has risen again, reaching 267: 207 in Amatrice, 49 in Arquata and 11 in Accumoli. The number of people pulled out alive from the rubble has also risen, to 238. Tremors continue; the latest struck at 06:28 this morning, measuring magnitude 4.8, with its epicentre near Amatrice.
17:44, 25 August
The death toll stands at 250, according to figures released by Civil Protection. The number of fatalities in Amatrice, which has recorded the highest number of victims, has risen to 204. The number of hospitalised injured is 365.
The public prosecutor's office in Rieti has opened an investigation for culpable disaster (article 434 of the penal code), which will also seek to shed light on the collapse of the school in Amatrice and the bell tower in Accumoli, both recently renovated. Chief prosecutor Giuseppe Saieva is coordinating the investigation, which involves all magistrates in the province.
Enel has denied reports that the Scandarello dam, a lake on the outskirts of Amatrice, had been damaged by the earthquake. "No damage to the dams in the affected regions has been detected," the electricity operator announced.
14:49
A new tremor of magnitude 4.5 struck Amatrice at 14:36 and caused collapses.
14:14
The death toll stands at 241: 184 in Amatrice, 11 in Accumoli and 46 in Arquata del Tronto. The fire brigade reports that it has so far pulled 215 people out alive from the rubble.
08:27
The death toll has reached 247 and there are hundreds of injured, while rescue operations continue (around 4,000 Civil Protection rescue workers are deployed). The death count will therefore likely continue to rise. During the night of 24–25 August, a further 60 tremors were felt, the strongest of magnitude 4.5, occurring at 05:17.
Tent camps have been erected in the three worst-affected municipalities: Amatrice and Accumoli, in the province of Rieti, and Pescara del Tronto, a hamlet of Arquata in the province of Ascoli Piceno. All hospital facilities in Lazio, the Marche and Abruzzo have been mobilised to assist the injured. Today the government will allocate the first tranche of emergency funds: 50 million euros.
There were at least 600 tremors. The strongest, of magnitude 6, was felt from Rimini as far as Naples and struck at 03.36 on 24 August, with its epicentre at a depth of four kilometres near Accumoli.
The subsequent tremors occurred between 04.32 and 04.34, with epicentres near Norcia, in the province of Perugia, and Arquata del Tronto. They were felt throughout central Italy, and people also took to the streets in L'Aquila and other localities in Abruzzo.
In the hours that followed, the seismic activity did not stop. Shortly before 14.00 on 24 August, another tremor of magnitude 4.9 was felt near Arquata, putting on alert the evacuees gathered at the first-aid camp set up in a sports ground. Furthermore, in the early hours of 25 August a further 60 tremors were recorded, forcing rescue workers to halt their efforts out of fear that further collapses might occur.
Rescue teams continue digging in search of missing persons and survivors, while the number of displaced people grows into the thousands. Civil Protection has activated the emergency numbers 840840 and 803555, and the donations hotline 45500. By calling this number or sending a text message, €2 will be donated to Civil Protection, which will transfer the funds to the affected regions. In addition, Facebook has activated the Safety Check feature so that people can let their contacts know they are safe.
"It's a disaster, half the town is gone," declared the mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, on the morning of 24 August. The injured are being treated in the street, outside the hospital rendered unusable by the powerful quake. As the mayor describes it, "the access roads are blocked". The "Three Eyes" bridge on the outskirts of Amatrice has collapsed, forcing rescue workers to enter the town on foot and thus slowing relief efforts, as confirmed by the head of the local Red Cross, reported by la Repubblica.
In Pescara del Tronto, too, people are forced to enter on foot. "People are crying as they walk towards the town," according to the Ansa correspondent on the ground. In Castelluccio di Norcia, in the province of Perugia, the bell tower has collapsed, and in Amandola, in the province of Fermo, the hospital has also sustained severe damage. In addition, a landslide has been reported on the eastern face of Corno Piccolo on the Gran Sasso.
"We commit to leaving no one alone, no family," said Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who travelled to the affected areas on the afternoon of 24 August. He also thanked "the great and generous spirit of the volunteers who mobilised from the very first hours, and Civil Protection." The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, upon a
