Italy: two major earthquakes occurred last night

A new earthquake of 6.0 degrees magnitude occurred Wednesday evening in central Italy, after a 5.6 earthquake that occurred after a few hours, according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS). The earthquakes have made at least nine injured. The second earthquake was also felt in Austria.

One person died of a heart attack and several people were slightly injured in the earthquakes that occurred Wednesday evening in Italy, reports La Repubblica. A new earthquake occurred at 21.18 (22.18 GMT), with initial magnitude of 6.2 degrees, subsequently revised by the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology with 5.9.According to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS), the second earthquake had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale. The first earthquake of 5.6 degrees occurred at 19.10 (20.10 GMT) in the village of Visso (province of Macerata, Marche region), at a depth of just 10 kilometers, according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS).

"The earthquake only happened a few minutes ago. It's dark here, so impossible to determine if there has been any damage outside," a local resident in Macerata told the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. "All services are still working normally." Another local close to the epicenter reported "normally stoic dogs" were "showing anxiety". Citizens as far away as Slovenia and Croatia reported feeling tremors just seconds after those felt in Italy.

"The worst situation is in the town of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, where electricity is off," said the head of civil protection in the Marche region, Cesare Spur. A segment of Highway Salaria was closed due to the risk of collapse.

Thousands of people went on the streets in Rome because of the earthquake, as there were signaled many scenes of panic in the Trastevere neighborhood, Marconi, Centocelle, Testaccio, Prati and Salario. Hundreds of people in shock called the emergency services. Farnesina Palace, headquarters of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lazio palace, located in the capital of Italy, were evacuated for reasons of caution, the newspaper Corriere della Sera writes.