ROME, 27 October (BelTA - Xinhua) - Two powerful earthquakes hit central Italy late Wednesday, bringing down buildings and wreaking havoc on local areas just two months after another major quake had killed 298 people.
A first 5.4-magnitude tremor hit at 7:11 p.m. (1711 GMT), according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). A second 5.9-magnitude quake struck the same area at 9:18 p.m. (1918 GMT).
The epicenter of both events was registered between the provinces of Macerata and Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region, and the province of Perugia in the nearby Umbria region, in central Italy, the INGV added.
It was at a relatively shallow depth of about 9 km, and the nearest urban areas were the villages of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, Visso, Ussita, and Preci.
