Last night a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit the Pollino national park area the Calabria region of southern Italy last night.
People took to the streets and one elderly person died of a heart attack. Damage to buildings has occurred and tremors are continuing.
Mormanno, at town in the Cosenza province appears to have felt the full force of the earthquake. The hospital in the town has been evacuated owing to the appearance of cracks.
Other areas affected are Laino Borgo, Laino Castello and Rotonda according to a report on the Il Messagero newspaper website.
Here is a brief news report, in Italian, on the Pollino earthquake with some images showing the damage:
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Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
[youtube align=”center” width=”500″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C-gqJD8gfc[/youtube]
Here is a Tweet about the earthquake:
#terremoto Ml:5.0 2012-10-25 23:05:24 UTC Lat=39.88 Lon=16.01 Prof=6.3Km Prov=POTENZA,COSENZA
— INGVterremoti (@INGVterremoti) October 25, 2012
Thousands of people in the area have left their homes. Water mains have been ruptured and, as a precautionary measure, schools have been closed. Buildings in the area are being inspected for signs of structural damage.
This is where Mormanno is in Italy – click on the map for a larger view: [googlemap lat=”39.862464″ lng=”15.993491″ align=”center” width=”500px” height=”350px” zoom=”5″ type=”G_NORMAL_MAP”]Italia[/googlemap]
Those using the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria autostrada should expect hold ups.
This post will be updated as the situation develops.