ROME — At least 37 people were killed and dozens more were missing or feared dead Wednesday after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake and a series of aftershocks struck several towns in central Italy, according Italy's civil protection agency.
The death toll climbed in the morning as rescuers searched for people trapped in the rubble. The hardest-hit towns were Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, about 80 miles northeast of Rome.
Mayor Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice, tells the Associated Press that rescue teams are trying to reach all 69 hamlets around his town.
“Half of the town doesn’t exist anymore,” Perozzi told RAI-TV. “People are stuck underneath the rubble. Houses are no longer there.”
He tells that the Associated Press that the death toll "will rise."
Police near the town of Ascoli said they could hear cries for help from under the rubble but lacked the heavy equipment to move the rocks, according the RAI radio.
In Accumoli, one witness told the Italian news agency ANSA that fire and police teams looking for a young couple and two children in a pile of rubble were alternating a bulldozer with people searching with their bare hands.
Several buildings collapsed and lights went out after the earthquake, Perozzi said. He said he had trouble communicating with emergency responders and couldn't reach the hospital. The center of Amatrice was devastated and homes collapsed on residents as they slept.
“The whole ceiling fell but did not hit me,” resident Maria Gianni told the AP. “I just managed to put a pillow on my head and I wasn’t hit luckily, just slightly injured my leg.”
The picturesque medieval town of about 3,000 residents — best known as the home of “pasta all’amatriciana” — is remote and was cut off after a bridge connecting the town and the rest of the region was damaged in the quake.
Search parties sifted through the rubble in various towns and villages as the sun rose. It became clear for some officials that the extent of the damage was worse than they initially thought.
"Now that daylight has come, we see that the situation is even more dreadful than we feared with buildings collapsed, people trapped under the rubble and no sound of life," Stefano Pertucci, mayor of Accumoli mayor, told RAI-TV.
Fabrizio Curcio, the director of Italy’s civil protection agency, activated national emergency procedures. He said the quake was on par with one in L'Aquilla in 2009 that left more than 300 people dead.
The first earthquake struck around 3:30 a.m. local time near Norcia, a small town roughly 105 miles from Rome, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No victims were reported there, but the quakes damaged buildings, according to RaiNews24.
“Much of our patrimony is damaged, but there are no victims,” Mayor Nicola Alemanno told RaiNews24. “That is the good news.”
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, who is heading to the zone later Wednesday, says the immediate priority is to rescue any survivors.
In brief remarks, Renzi thanked rescue workers who dug through debris, some with their bare hands, to reach residents crushed by their homes.
Renzi says that in times of trouble, Italy shows its true face. He says: “No family, no city, no hamlet will be left alone.”
The first quake was followed by at least 11 tremors in what the seismological center described as a “high aftershock rate.”
"Aftershock rate is high in #Italy following M6.2 and will likely continue in the coming days," the center said in a tweet Wednesday.
The U.S. Embassy restricted all but essential official travel to the area and recommended that U.S. citizens defer travel in these areas as well.
In Rome, residents said they felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.
“I could feel the ground shake and my three dogs started to go a little crazy, running around and barking," Maurizio Serra, 56, told USA TODAY. "I could hear other dogs in other apartments."
Serra, who lives on the fourth floor of a Renaissance-era building in the historical center of Rome, said he felt a couple of smaller quakes afterward.
"Thank God there was no serious damage in our building,” he said.
Facebook issued a safety check for those potentially affected by the quake.
The Italian earthquake institute (INGV) reported 60 aftershocks in the four hours following the first quake, the strongest at 5.5.
Since Italy sits on two fault lines, it has gained a reputation as one of the most earthquake-prone countries throughout Europe.
The 2009, 6.3-magnitude earthquake in L'Aquila occurred roughly 55 miles south of the latest tremor.
The most deadly earthquake since the 20th century struck in 1908, when a quake followed by a tsunami killed about 80,000 people in Reggio Calabria and Sicily.
Steph Solis reported from McLean, Va.; Contributing: Charles Ventura from Los Angeles, Jessica Durando from McLean.
