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Earthquake Mb 5.3 Northern Italy November 24th, 2004 at 22:59 UTC

EMSC Location

More information on:

Waveform data available at ORFEUS
Italian National Seismic Network, Roma, Italy (in italian)
MedNet web page

Damages reported so far in the news

Report at 11am
- A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy at about midnight, the U.S. Geological Survey said. At least nine people were injured and some buildings were damaged, according to Italian civil protection officials.
- The earthquake was centered in the town of Sirmione, at the southern end of Lake Garda, about 87 miles (140 kilometers) east of Milan. Temblors measuring between 5.0 and 5.9 on the Richter scale are considered "moderate", according to the USGS.
- Some buildings in the Lake Garda region suffered damage, said Guido Bertolaso, chief of civil protection in Rome. The quake was felt as far away as Genoa on Italy's western coast, to Venice on its eastern coast, he said.
- A hospital in Salo, on the lake's southwestern shore, transferred patients to another facility about 10 kilometers away as a precaution, Bertolaso said. Two other local hospitals were evacuated, daily la Repubblica reported. Local radio in Salo reported that officials were erecting tents for residents who were afraid to return to their homes for the night.
- Power outages were reported in the cities of Brescia and Milan, including one that struck a pediatric hospital, and some people in nearby towns refused to return to their apartments in taller buildings, la Repubblica said. It was the strongest earthquake in the Lombardy region since 1901, the paper said.
- Law enforcement officials in the town of Villanuova sul Clisi, about 20 kilometers east of the epicenter, urged people to leave their homes after the earthquake. Several schools were shut today in Salo, Italian television broadcaster Rai reported.
- The quake's depth was about 9.3 miles underground, the USGS said. Two strong earthquakes shook central Italy's Molise region in November 2002, killing 30 people, including 27 children who died when their school building collapsed.
Report at 5am
- ROME (AP) - An earthquake shook northern Italy Wednesday night, injuring at least five people and sending hundreds fleeing homes and buildings to the streets for safety, authorities said.
- The magnitude 5.2-quake also damage scores of buildings as it shook parts of northern and central Italy, including the cities of Milan, Turin, Genoa and Venice.
- In Milan, about 60 miles west of the quake's epicenter, and in some nearby small towns, hundreds of frightened residents spilled out of their homes, said the ANSA news agency.
- A man in central Milan was injured by flying glass when a window shattered, while four people were slightly hurt in Brescia, said state-run broadcaster RAI.
- In Salo and two nearby villages, three hospitals were evacuated as a precaution while authorities assessed damage to the buildings, reports said.
- Masonry fell off some buildings, while others suffered cracks, reports said. Authorities were still assessing the damage.
- "Certainly there will be aftershocks, but they shouldn't be stronger than this,'' said Enzo Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics in Rome. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Lake Garda.