Earthquake in Italy: at least 37 dead

The hardest-hit towns are Amatrice and Accumoli in Rieti, some 100 kilometers northeast of Rome.

Amatrice Mayor Sergio Perozzi stated that the damage in town is severe: “All the roads are blocked. Half of the town is not here anymore, destroyed. This is a tragedy. People are trapped under the debris.”

According to BBC, at least 37 people died and search and rescue operations continue for 150 missing.

It is reported that majority of the dead were in Pescara del Toronto town.

Speaking to Associated Press, a civil protection worker said: "We need chain saws, shears to cut iron bars, and jacks to remove beams: everything, we need everything."

In 2009, in Abruzza district in central Italy, an earthquake left more than 300 dead and at least 65,000 people ended up homeless.