New earthquake rocks Italy, flattens historic basilica
Some houses are collapsed outright, pancaked piles of stones and plaster. A pair of skis stick out. Some are cracked open neatly, exposing living rooms frozen in time.
The central Italian mountain village of Castelluccio di Norcia, among the most heavily hit by the Oct. 30 earthquake, is known for the beautiful blossoms of its lentil fields and its historic charm. Now it’s a ghost town.
With the roads cut off, almost all of the 300 inhabitants were evacuated by helicopter. They all survived after an earlier quake in August prompted them to move into safer housing like camper vans or containers.
The 6.6-magnitude tremor, the country’s most powerful in 36 years, pulled down buildings and historic churches in villages across the Appenine mountains. In Castelluccio, the ground is now as much as 70 centimeters (two feet) lower, according to the national geophysics institute. (AP)
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