Gone in an instant

Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP

Residents stand among damaged buildings after a strong earthquake hit Amatrice on August 24, 2016. Central Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours, which has killed at least three people and devastated dozens of mountain villages. Numerous buildings had collapsed in communities close to the epicenter of the quake near the town of Norcia in the region of Umbria, witnesses told Italian media, with an increase in the death toll highly likely.