This Article is From May 21, 2012

At least six dead, 50 injured in northern Italy quake

At least six dead, 50 injured in northern Italy quake
Milan: The death toll in Italy's magnitude 6.0 earthquake rose on Sunday to at least six, with more than 50 people reported injured, authorities said.

Four night-shift workers were killed in factory building collapses in the Emilia Romagna region. A 37-year-old German woman died near Bologna, while a centenarian woman was reported to have died of shock caused by the quake.

Panicked people rushed into the streets when a powerful earthquake struck northern Italy early Sunday.

The 5.9-magnitude quake which struck around 0200 GMT in the Emilia-Romagna region and the area around Venice had its epicentre 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of Bologna at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles).

It lasted around 20 seconds and was followed by several aftershocks.

Earlier another 4.1-magnitude quake was felt in the Lombardy region around Milan, Italy's financial and business capital.

Rescue services said the three people died on night shifts in the Modena and Ferrara areas.

One man died when the workshop of a plastic-producing factory collapsed near Ferrara and two others died in a ceramics factory.

Two people were injured in another region.

Several church steeples also partly collapsed and hospitals were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

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