Italy earthquakes: Several tremors create panic; schools closed

Earthquakes measuring 5.3, 5.7, 5.3 and 4.8 on the Richter scale hit central Italy within the span of an hour or a little more on Wednesday. Coming barely months after devastating tremors in the country that led to hundreds of deaths, Wednesday's earthquakes managed to create quite a bit of panic, with schools being closed and transport disrupted. 

They have also led to some destruction fo property, with some buildings and towers being damaged. However, there is no report yet of any loss of life. 

There were initially only three quakes recorded, with their epicentres near each other. Another was recorded later. The population of the area where the earthquakes struck is believed to be around 9 million. The tremors led to the evacuation of several schools across Italy, even as emergency services were inundated with calls from distressed Italians. 

The true extent of the devastation of the current series of earthquakes is expected to become apparent only with time. Meanwhile, Adnkronos news agency reported that some subway trains in Rome were cancelled following the series of earthquakes, which were recorded around 100 km north of the Italian capital city. It was measured at a depth of about 10 km underground. 

The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) — a non-profit scientific NGO that details seismic activity in Europe — said that the epicentres of Wednesday's earthquakes lie between those of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and the 2016 Amatrice tremors. 

A BBC report said the tremors "follow some 36 hours of steady snowfall in areas around Amatrice and Norcia, towns close to the epicentre."