One dead, two hurt in northern Italy quake

A powerful earthquake, lasting about 20 seconds, killed a man and injured two other people in northern Italy Sunday, also sending panicked people into the streets, rescuers said.

The 5.9-magnitude quake which struck around 0200 GMT in the Emilia-Romagna region and the area around Venice had its epicentre 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of Bologna at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles).

It was followed by several aftershocks.

Earlier another 4.1-magnitude quake was felt in the Lombardy region around Milan, Italy's financial and business capital.

Rescue services said the man died when a workshop in a plastic-producing factory collapsed near the city of Ferrara. Two people were injured in another region.

Several church steeples also partly collapsed and hospitals were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

AFP