Two Powerful Earthquakes Strike Central Italy, Collapsing Buildings

The larger quake measured magnitude-6.1. The shaking came about two months after another earthquake killed nearly 300 people in central Italy.

The Church of San Sebastiano stands amidst damaged houses in Castelsantangelo sul Nera, Italy, Wednesday following an earthquake.

Sandro Perozzi / AP

A powerful magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck central Italy Wednesday night, just hours after a smaller magnitude-5.5 quake struck the same region, collapsing buildings and causing injuries.

The larger quake struck near Visso, Italy, about 113 miles northeast of Rome, at around 9:18 pm local time, according to the US Geological Survey. Several other significant aftershocks followed late Wednesday night, the USGS reported.

A map from the USGS shows the epicenter of Wednesday's magnitude-6.1 earthquake.

USGS

Italy's civil protection agency reported that there were two injuries from the quakes late Wednesday. Italian newspaper La Repubblica also reported that some buildings, including homes, had collapsed.

Several old churches collapsed as well, Reuters reported, and some areas lost electricity.

Marco Rinaldi, mayor of the town of Ussita, described the aftermath of the quakes as an "apocalyptic situation" in an interview with Sky TG24.

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