Three killed in Italy quake: Report

May 20 2012

Italian news reports say that three people have been killed in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck in the north of the country near Bologna.

The quake - which struck at just after 4am on Sunday - was 35 kilometres (21.75 miles) north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

Italian news agency ANSA, citing emergency services, said two people were killed in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara when a ceramics factory collapsed. Another person was killed in Ponte Rodoni do Bondeno.

In late January, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings.