Central Italy shakes in new 4.4 magnitude earthquake
The Central Italian region which was rocked by major, deadly quakes in 2016 and January of this year on Friday morning experienced a series of 25 earthquakes, two over 4.0 magnitude.
In the early hours of the morning, two tremors measuring over magnitude 4.0 were felt in the area between Marche and Umbria.
According to Italy's geology experts, Ingv, the first quake at 4:47am measured a magnitude of 4, and a second, bigger tremblor at 5:10am measured 4.4.
The quake had its epicentre close to Monte Cavallo in the Macerata region, 12km away from Preci, Perugia. The epicentre was just 6km deep; quakes closer to the earth's surface tend to be more destructive, however no further collapses or injuries have been reported.
These were the largest of a series of 25 quakes which shook the ground throughout the night. The area has experienced near-constant seismic activity ever since the major quake of August 24th last year.
READ ALSO: How Italy plans to rebuild the quake-damaged region
The epicentre of the latest quakes was north of Amatrice and Norcia, two of the towns most badly damaged by last year's quakes in August and October.
The 2016 quakes left thousands of homes in ruins or structurally unsafe, emptying a string of villages and small towns across Italy's mountainous central regions, with an estimated 40,000 people forced to find shelter.
Recent weeks have seen residents from the earthquake-hit towns protesting in Rome over government delays in the recovery effort - in many places, the promised temporary housing has still not arrived, five months on.
Residents were also affected psychologically by the disaster: one survivor, who has a fear of brick houses after seeing his home collapse and pulling neighbours from rubble, told The Local on Thursday how he had been arrested for refusing to leave his home.
READ ALSO: Earthquake survivor jailed for refusing to leave his hometown
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In the early hours of the morning, two tremors measuring over magnitude 4.0 were felt in the area between Marche and Umbria.
According to Italy's geology experts, Ingv, the first quake at 4:47am measured a magnitude of 4, and a second, bigger tremblor at 5:10am measured 4.4.
The quake had its epicentre close to Monte Cavallo in the Macerata region, 12km away from Preci, Perugia. The epicentre was just 6km deep; quakes closer to the earth's surface tend to be more destructive, however no further collapses or injuries have been reported.
These were the largest of a series of 25 quakes which shook the ground throughout the night. The area has experienced near-constant seismic activity ever since the major quake of August 24th last year.
READ ALSO: How Italy plans to rebuild the quake-damaged region
The epicentre of the latest quakes was north of Amatrice and Norcia, two of the towns most badly damaged by last year's quakes in August and October.
The 2016 quakes left thousands of homes in ruins or structurally unsafe, emptying a string of villages and small towns across Italy's mountainous central regions, with an estimated 40,000 people forced to find shelter.
Recent weeks have seen residents from the earthquake-hit towns protesting in Rome over government delays in the recovery effort - in many places, the promised temporary housing has still not arrived, five months on.
Residents were also affected psychologically by the disaster: one survivor, who has a fear of brick houses after seeing his home collapse and pulling neighbours from rubble, told The Local on Thursday how he had been arrested for refusing to leave his home.
READ ALSO: Earthquake survivor jailed for refusing to leave his hometown
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