A series of strong earthquakes hit snowbound central Italy on Wednesday, unnerving residents shaken by last year’s deadly tremors and forcing the closure of hundreds of schools as well as rail links and even Rome’s underground railway. The first of a barrage of quakes measuring up to magnitude 5.7 struck at 10:25am. Nearly five hours later, no serious damage or injuries had been reported, although some abandoned rural structures weakened by last year’s quakes had collapsed.

“Fortunately, there are no victims so far, but certainly this repetition of strong quakes is alarming for people who have already been so sorely tried,” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in Berlin.

However, snowstorms were making it hard to reach parts of the Lazio, Marche and Abruzzi regions to assess the situation, and Gentiloni said soldiers would be called out to help teams get through to some villages. “Some areas have no electricity because of the snow, so even cellphones don’t work,” said Sante Stragoni, mayor of Acquasanta Terme, a town hit hard by a quake on Aug 24 that killed 300 people. “The snow is six feet deep in some areas,” he told SkyTG 24 television.

In Rome, a city not accustomed to quakes, buildings wobbled and the underground metro system was shut as a precaution for several hours. Schoolchildren were sent home, and museums told visitors to leave. Residents nearer the epicentre, which was some 100 km northeast of Rome, rushed out into the streets and fields as the earth kept shaking under their feet. “Everyone is outside. It’s very cold and windy,” said Lina Mercantini, in the tiny village of Ceselli in Umbria, about 80 km from the epicentre. “This is totally unnerving. It’s neverending. We are all shaking.”

The US Geological Survey said the three strongest earthquakes, with magnitudes of 5.3, 5.7 and 5.6, all struck within the space of an hour. In all, there were 10 quakes over magnitude 4.0 clustered in a 10 km radius around the town of Amatrice, which was devastated by last August’s tremor, and dozens of weaker ones.

The belltower of the town’s Sant’Agostino church, which had been badly damaged in August, finally collapsed.

The Aug 24 quake destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. More than 45,000 aftershocks have since rattled the region, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in October, the biggest tremor to strike Italy for 36 years.

Published in Dawn January 19th, 2017