AMATRICE, Italy — A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. At least 38 people were killed in hard-hit towns where rescue crews raced to dig survivors out of the rubble, but the toll was likely to rise as crews reached homes in more remote hamlets.
“The town isn’t here anymore,” said Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice.
The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome, where residents felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. The temblor shook the Lazio region and Umbria and Le Marche on the Adriatic coast.
Premier Matteo Renzi planned to head to the zone later Wednesday and promised: “No family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind.”
The hardest-hit towns were Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, some 80 miles northeast of Rome, and Pescara del Tronto further east.
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