Rescuers race against time on Italy's Ischia Island, after quake kills two

Emergency teams raced against time on Tuesday to rescue victims of a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the Italian southern island of Ischia on Monday evening.

The temblor killed at least two women, and wounded 39 people, according to latest reports.

Rescuers kept working all throughout the night to save three young brothers from under the rubble of a collapsed house. The children were reportedly aged at 6, 4 and 7 months old.

The youngest child was pulled out alive at about 4 a.m. local time, the Civil Protection agency said.

The second child was rescued around mid-morning on Tuesday. Their parents have both been saved, the Fire Department wrote on Twitter.

The third brother was also reportedly pulled out alive as of press times.

The quake struck at 8:57 p.m. local time at a depth of about 5 km off Ischia, which lies in the Gulf of Naples, the Italian National Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (INGV) said. The INGV had earlier put the magnitude at 3.6, then revised it up to 4.0.

Of the two victims so far, an old woman was killed by falling debris in the collapse of a church in the municipality of Casamicciola Terme, the authorities confirmed.

The second one remained trapped under the rubble of a collapse building, and her body was yet to be recovered.

The quake destroyed at least six buildings, and temporarily cut power lines on Sunday night, Ansa news agency reported.

Personnel from the Civil Protection department had been in operation on the island to put out fires and were able to intervene in a very short time, while other teams were dispatched from the city of Naples.

Ischia's hospital was evacuated to allow firefighters to check possible damages on the building, and people had been assisted in a makeshift camp outside throughout the night, local media said citing doctors.

Ischia is a tourist resort very popular among Italians and foreigners. It counts 20,000 residents, but its average population is estimated about 50,000.

Many tourists reportedly rushed to leave the island after the quake, and some of them slept at the port, waiting for ferries from Naples to arrive.

Shortly after the quake, extra boats were organized to both take people away, and bring relief teams on the island.

At least 1,051 people were brought to the town of Pozzuoli during the night, and assisted by the Italian Red Cross, the Civil Protection said.

Some 2,000 people were already evacuated from Casamicciola and 600 people from Lacco Ameno, which were the hardest-hit municipalities on the island.

Source: XINHUA