Rescuers carry a man in Amatrice on August 24, 2016 after a strong earthquake.
Central Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours of Wednesday, Aug. 24. (Getty)
At least 247 people have died in a massive earthquake that hit Italy southeast of the city of Perugia.
“Half the town is gone,” the mayor of Amatrice in the quake zone told Italian radio, according to BBC. The quake struck central Italy.
The New York Times said other people were trapped “under debris.” The mayor said houses were gone, and people were under rubble, The Times said. Al-Jazeera said “a family of four, including two young children, were trapped, feared dead” in the massive quake.
The disaster was actually a series of quakes.
The devastating quake registered 6.2 on the Richter scale. Its effects were felt as far away as Rome. The quake struck near the town of ear the town of Norcia; an elderly couple perished when their home collapsed on them, said news.com/au.
Citizens and news stations began posting video of the quake on social media. Watch:
European news sites were broadcasting live from the scene:
Some of the video was less dramatic. One widely circulated video showed a chandelier shaking from the tremors. One eyewitness told CNN that the quake felt like a “the bed was on rollers.”
“It was so strong. It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it,” another eyewitness said, according to ABC News.
In 2009, a quake also struck Italy, killing 300 people, said Al-Jazeera.