Aftershocks Rock Italy as Quake Toll Hits 207

Strong aftershocks, weather hamper rescue efforts

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 7, 2009 7:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – Strong aftershocks briefly halted the search for survivors and sent rescuers scrambling for safety in central Italy today, as the death toll from yesterday's earthquake hit 207. At least 1,500 people were injured and 17,000 were made homeless. One person was pulled alive from the rubble today after nearly 23 hours, reports the BBC, but hopes are fading for the 15 others still missing.

Beyond the aftershocks—the strongest of which, at 4.9-magnitude, rattled furniture as far away as Rome—rescuers going through the rubble with diggers and their bare hands have been hampered by heavy rains. In the worst-hit city, L'Aquila, thousands of people spent the night in tents put up on open land and on the surrounding hillsides.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

Firefighters carry out a body from the rubble of a collapsed building, in L'Aquila, central Italy, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Firefighters search through the rubble of collapsed buildings, in L'Aquila, central Italy, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Rescuers worked frantically in this central Italian city early Tuesday. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian firefighters work at a collapsed university dorm building in L'Aquila, central Italy, early Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

An elderly woman is helped on a wheelchair, in a tent-camp set up by the civil protection agency in the village of Paganica, central Italy, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

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CNN reports on the search for earthquake survivors in central Italy. (CNN Video)

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Aftershocks Rock Italy as Quake Toll Hits 207