SANT’AGOSTINO DI FERRARA, Italy (AP) — Residents of a quake-struck area of northeast Italy woke up in their cars, tents and in school gyms today as aftershocks continued following a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that killed seven people and toppled centuries-old buildings.
Officials were still assessing the damage a day after the strongest quake in hundreds of years hit the area, known for its famed Parmesan cheese. Italian farm lobby group Coldiretti said some 400,000 huge, round cheeses were damaged after the racks where they are aged collapsed. The cheese loss was part of what Coldiretti estimated at $254 million in agricultural losses from slain livestock and damaged machinery.
Emilia Romagna regional president Vasco Errani said that civil protection crews were checking government buildings, schools, businesses, homes, churches and other cultural heritage sites to evaluate the exact scale of damage and rebuilding costs.
“Unfortunately, the aftershocks are continuing and this is creating concern for the citizens,” Romana told Sky TG24. “This is something we have to deal with because there is a psychological aspect to this. As a result, we’re speeding up the checks on the buildings.”
Premier Mario Monti, in Chicago for the NATO summit, was returning to Italy before the meeting ended because of the quake. As of this morning there were no immediate plans for him to go to the quake zone.
The quake struck at 4:04 a.m. Sunday, with its epicenter about 22 miles north of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 3.2 miles. Civil protection agency official Adriano Gumina described it as the worst to hit the region since the 1300s.
Four factory workers on an overnight shift were killed when their buildings, in three separate locations, collapsed. Another three people were said to have died, apparently from heart attacks or other conditions, out of fear. Dozens were injured.
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