Only medieval facade of one of Italian region’s most spiritually important sites is still standing after 6.6-magnitude quake

The basilica of San Benedetto had withstood the tests of time since the end of the 14th century.

But on Sunday, the church that paid homage to the patron saint of Europe, Saint Benedict, was reduced to a heap of rubble after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake ripped through the town of Norcia where it stood in the main square.

The basilica was considered one of the region’s most spiritually important sites. Now, only its medieval facade still stands, and centuries of work and other renovations to the interior, including a complete restructuring that was completed at the end of the 18th century, are gone.

News of the church’s destruction was confirmed in a four-word tweet sent by the monastery of San Benedetto, a Benedictine community in Norcia.

The Monks of Norcia (@monksofnorcia) La Basilica è crollata #terremoto - https://t.co/iDrWBvrbMS

The monks escaped largely unscathed, in part because they had moved to a makeshift monastery about a mile from Norcia after the August earthquake in nearby Amatrice that killed nearly 300 people.

The monks released a statement on Sunday morning, saying they were all safe, and were searching for victims who might require last rites.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A still from TV footage showing the damage to the basilica. Photograph: AFP/Getty

The statement, posted below an image of the ruined basilica, said: “May this image serve to illustrate the power of this earthquake, and the urgency we monks feel to seek out those who need the sacraments on this difficult day for Italy.”

The building contained a large painting, St Benedict and Totila, by Filippo Napoletano, which was completed in 1621, and another painting from the mid-1600s, Madonna and Norcia Saints, by the Roman painter Vincenzo Manetti.

The church was located on top of the ruins of a house that were said to be the birthplace of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, and parts of the ancient Roman structure were still visible on the left side of the basilica. Some parts of the crypt walls contained opus reticulatum brickwork – a diamond-shaped style used in ancient Rome – while other walls contained traces of 14th-century frescoes, according to an Umbrian tourism website.

Italy earthquake: damage as central Italy hit again Read more

While the basilica was first constructed between 1290 and 1338, it was enlarged a few years later by the monks of Sant’Eutizio in Valcastoriana. A bell tower was erected in the 14th century but was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1703, and was then replaced by a smaller tower.

The town attracts pilgrims from all over the world who seek to honour Saint Benedict, seen in Catholicism as crucial to the founding of western civilisation, according to the Vatican journalist Edward Pentin.

The monks are likely to play a central role in the eventual rebuilding of Norcia and had begun an appeal on their website before Sunday’s quake. Norcia , a destination for food lovers, is known for its prosciutto, salami, cheese and wild boar.

The monks also put it on the map with their craft beer, which is called Birra Nursia, after the Latin name of the town, and is sold at local shops and hotels, as well as in the US through its website. The beer was reportedly served to cardinals during the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. </s> A powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy on Sunday morning close to the area where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August.

The USGS said the quake was centered 6 km (3.7 miles) north of Norcia, a town in the province of Perugia.

The ancient town of Norcia has been left in ruins following the powerful earthquake which knocked its historical 13th century Basilica of St Benedict and other buildings to the ground.

No deaths have been reported, but Civil Protection says a number of people have been injured.

The medieval basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre, was among buildings destroyed.

An evacuation of buildings in the region deemed vulnerable to seismic activity last week, following strong aftershocks from August’s quake, may have saved lives.

Tremors from this latest earthquake were felt in the capital Rome, where the Metro system was shut down, and as far away as Venice in the north.

The head of the national civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, said there had been extensive damage to many historic buildings but no deaths had been registered.

“About 20 people are injured. As far as people are concerned, the situation is positive, but many buildings are in a critical state in historic centres and there are problems with electricity and water supplies,” he added.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised that everything will be rebuilt, saying resources will be found.

“We are going through a really tough period,” he said. “We must not allow the profound pain, fatigue and stress that we have now to turn into resignation.”

Pope Francis mentioned the quake in his Sunday blessing in Rome’s St Peter’s Square.

“I’m praying for the injured and the families who have suffered the most damage, as well as for rescue and first-aid workers,” he said to loud applause.

According to Ansa the cathedral of Saint Maria Silver and the town hall were also reported to have been damaged along with the 4th century church in Rome commonly known as ‘St Paul’s Outside the Walls’.

The news agency reported that cornices fell and cracks appeared in the walls after the quake struck central Italy and shook many buildings in the capital. </s> Italy has been rocked by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake, hitting the central Italian region already reeling from a series of large quakes.

The epicentre of the quake, according to initial reports, was about 68km south-west of Perugia and close to the town of Norcia, which had been hit by two successive quakes on Wednesday night that caused extensive damage.

There were no initial reports of fatalities but the head of the civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, said “a dozen” people were injured, with one person described as being in a serious condition.

Emergency services pulled out three people alive from the rubble in the town of Tolentino in Marche.

While there was relief that the area seemed to have been spared mass causalities - in large part because affected areas had already been abandoned after the previous quake - the damage wreaked on ancient structures across the hilly region of Marche and Umbria underscored that the landscape of this historic region would never be the same again.

The quake, which was felt in Rome and Naples, levelled historic structures that had already sustained major damage, including a tower and St Augustine church in Amatrice - the town devastated by a major earthquake in August that killed about 300 people.

In Norcia, a town in Umbria, the basilica of San Benedetto was destroyed, as was the town’s cathedral, where only remnants of the church’s facade still stood.

On Sunday morning, live television images showed firefighters in Norcia’s main square helping people running down small alleyways seeking safety. They included many monks and nuns in their habits from a nearby monastery.

Authorities were also reporting extensive damage in other towns of the region. Apart from Rome and Naples, tremors were also felt in neighbouring countries including Slovenia and Croatia.

“It all came down. Now there is no more town,” said the mayor of Arquata del Tronto, Aleandro Petrucci. There had already been “red zones” in place, abandoned after the previous quakes. “The few people who remained have gone out to the streets and are embracing. Now we’re going around to see what happened,” he said.

Cesare Spuri, the head of civil protection in Marche, said: “There are collapses everywhere. We report collapses in Muccia, Tolentino and in the areas surrounding Macerata. We’re trying to establish if people are underneath the rubble. There was also a strong shock in Ancona.”

“Everything’s collapsed. I see plumes of smoke, it’s a disaster,” said Marco Rinaldi, the mayor of Ussita, a town in the Marche region that was among the worst hit in a 6.1-magnitude quake that struck Italy on Wednesday night.

In Rome, the quake caused far more concern than Wednesday’s as it was felt much more strongly and for a longer period. The city’s metro was shut down for safety checks in case of damage.

“I was woken up by the earthquake,” Gianpaolo Giovannelli, who lives in the Flaminio area of Rome, told the Guardian. “The apartment started to shake. We feel them here in Rome, but we never get used to them so each time we feel fear.”

Assia Staffoli, a mother of two from Rome, said her husband put their six-year-old daughter under the table when they felt the earthquake, which caused their bedrooms, on a mezzanine level, to shake badly.

“That’s what you’re told to do when there’s an earthquake, go under the table,” Ms Staffoli said. “I was feeding my son [aged seven months] when it happened. We then quickly left the apartment.” </s> Italy earthquake: churches, chapels destroyed as magnitude-6.6 tremor hits medieval town

Updated

An earthquake in Italy on Sunday struck the medieval walled town of Norcia as nuns, monks and priests were heading to morning prayer services, giving them just enough time to flee as the walls around them plunged to the ground.

Key points: Magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits central region of Italy causing extensive damage

Churches, monasteries and chapels in the region of Norcia were destroyed

Earlier tremors had prompted people to flee their homes, preventing any deaths when the major quake struck

The quake hit the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months.

The magnitude-6.6 earthquake caused extensive damage but no fatalities, despite registering much higher than the earthquake which stuck on August 24 and killed almost 300 people.

Weakened by repeated powerful jolts in recent weeks, many of Norcia's churches, monasteries and chapels were wrecked.

"We thought it was the end of everything," said 74-year-old Sister Maria Raffaella Buoso after being evacuated from the Monastery of the Poor Clares of Santa Maria della Pace.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake was centred 68 kilometres east-southeast of Perugia at a depth of 1.5 kilometres.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville told the ABC that at that depth, the earthquake was very shallow and had the potential to cause anything nearby to be catastrophically damaged.

"If it's a deep earthquake at 10, 20 or even 30 kilometres, the seismic waves have to travel through more earth before they reach the surface, but at such a shallow depth there is a lot less to dampen the waves effect on the buildings," he said.

Italy's history of earthquakes Oct. 31, 2002 — Earthquake measuring 5.9 hits Campobasso, south-central Italy, killing 30 people, most of them children, in San Giuliano di Puglia.

April 6, 2009 — Earthquake measuring 6.3 strikes the Abruzzo region east of Rome. It kills more than 300 people and devastates the 13th century city of L'Aquila.

May 29, 2012 — 17 people killed, 350 injured in a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the area around Modena in northern Italy, 10 days after a tremor killed 10 in the same area.

Aug 24, 2016 — 297 people killed when a 6.2 magnitude quake hits the central hilltown of Amatrice and nearby towns and villages.

That there were no reports of fatalities was largely due to the fact that thousands had left their homes after the earlier temblors.

Some 20 people suffered minor injuries.

Premier Matteo Renzi pledged that wrecked homes, churches and businesses would rise again, saying they were part of Italy's national identity.

"We will rebuild everything," Mr Renzi said.

"We are dealing with marvellous territories, territories of beauty."

Department head Fabrizio Curcio said the agency was using helicopters to tend to the injured and assess damage.

'It's as if the whole city fell down'

Norcia's historic Basilica of St Benedict was among the buildings destroyed.

The Monks of Norcia tweeted images of the damage and said people were trapped in the town's main square, with fears nearby buildings might collapse.

"Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits end," Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia said.

"It's as if the whole city fell down," Norcia city assessor Guiseppina Perla told the ANSA news agency.

The destruction of the Norcia basilica is the single most significant loss of Italy's artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.

The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.

During his Sunday blessing Pope Francis offered his prayers to those affected.

"I'm praying for the injured and the families who have suffered the most damage, as well as for rescue and first-aid workers."

Priests advised to hold outdoor mass

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Umbria, advised parish priests not to hold mass inside churches.

He told priests in the Umbria region to hold mass outdoors, the ANSA news agency said.

The quake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula and was felt strongly in the capital Rome.

Marco Rinaldi, Mayor of quake-hit Ussita, north of Norcia, said a huge cloud of smoke erupted from the crumbled buildings.

"It's a disaster, a disaster," he told the ANSA news agency.

"I was sleeping in the car and I saw hell."

The town of Arquata del Tronto, east of Norcia, which was devastated by earthquakes two months ago that killed nearly 300 people and levelled several small towns, suffered fresh damage.

"Everything came down," Mayor Aleandro Petrucci said.

Further south in Amatrice, the St Augustine church, which had survived August's quake, crumbled.

The earthquake followed a series of tremors to strike the country in the past five days.

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck east of the city on Wednesday, the second of the evening whose tremors were felt as far away as the capital Rome.

Mr Curcio said 1,300 people displaced by Wednesday's quakes had been evacuated to the coast in recent days.

ABC/wires

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, earthquake, italy

First posted
The 14th century Basilica of St. Benedict in the town of Norcia is destroyed.