Italy launches massive relief effort

A devastating earthquake rocked central Italy early on Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept, killing dozens and leaving thousands homeless.

A family of four, including two boys aged 8 months and 9 years, were buried when their house in Accumoli imploded.

As rescue workers carried away the body of the infant, carefully covered by a small blanket, the children's grandmother blamed God: "He took them all at once," she wailed.

The army was mobilized to help with special heavy equipment and the treasury released $265 million of emergency funds. At the Vatican, Pope Francis canceled part of his general audience to pray for the victims.

"It's all young people here, it's holiday season, the town festival was to have been held the day after tomorrow so lots of people came for that," said Amatrice resident Giancarlo, sitting in the road wearing just his underwear.

"It's terrible, I'm 65-years-old and I have never experienced anything like this, small tremors, yes, but nothing this big. This is a catastrophe," he said.

The national Civil Protection Department said some survivors would be put up elsewhere in central Italy, while others would be housed in tents that were being dispatched to the area.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would visit the disaster area later in the day: "No one will be left alone, no family, no community, no neighborhood. We must get down to work ... to restore hope to this area which has been so badly hit," he said in a brief televised address.

The earthquake caused damage in three regions - Umbria, Lazio and Marche - and was felt as far away as the southern Italian port city of Naples.

Shallow epicenter

The damage was made more severe because the epicenter was at a relatively shallow 4 kilometers below the surface of the earth. Residents of Rome were waked by the tremors, which rattled furniture, swayed lights and set off car alarms in most of central Italy.

"It was so strong. It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it," said Lina Mercantini of Ceselli, Umbria, about 75 km away from the hardest hit area. Olga Urbani, in the nearby town of Scheggino, said: "Dear God it was awful. The walls creaked and all the books fell off the shelves."

INGV reported 60 aftershocks in the four hours following the initial quake, the strongest was at magnitude-5.5.

Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.

The last major earthquake to hit the country struck the central city of L'Aquila in 2009, killing more than 300 people.

Powerful quake shakes Myanmar

A powerful magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck central Myanmar on Wednesday, killing at least one person and damaging around 60 pagodas in the ancient city of Bagan, officials said.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey said hit at a depth of 84 kilometers, was also felt across neighboring Thailand, India and Bangladesh, sending panicked residents rushing onto the streets.

At least one man was killed in Magway region where the quake struck, said Han Zaw Win, a local MP from Pakokku township.

"A 22 year-old man was killed when a nearby building collapsed during the earthquake," he said.

A local official reported heavy damage to several temples in Bagan - Myanmar's most famous archaeological site and a major tourist destination some 30 km north of the quake's epicenter.

"About 60 pagodas in Bagan were damaged. Some were seriously damaged," said Aung Kyaw, the director of Bagan's culture department.

A tourist police officer from Bagan confirmed the damage and said a Spanish tourist was slightly hurt when the quake knocked her from the temple where she was watching the sunset.

Worried residents of Yangon, the country's main city, rushed out of tall buildings, and objects toppled from tables and from Buddhist shrines in homes. However, there were no immediate reports of serious damage in the city.

The epicenter is in an area where earthquakes are fairly common, but usually don't cause many casualties because there are no large densely populated cities.