Already suffering from the earthquake that shook the area Wednesday, two strong aftershock hit the town of Amatrice in central Italy Friday.

The aftershocks, one registering magnitude 4.3 and the other 4.7 caused more damage to buildings and sent up plumes of smoke, instilling panic in the town.

Since the original earthquake hit Amatrice early Wednesday morning, the city has seen more than 500 additional aftershocks, most of which were relatively mild.

267 dead

Meanwhile, civil protection officials have revised the death toll from Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude earthquake to 267, mainly in the hardest hit towns of Amatrice, Arqueta and Accumoli, which are largely ruined.  Nearly 400 people went to the hospital for treatment of injuries, Italy’s civil protection department said.

Of those killed, at least 12 were foreigners traveling in Italy. Three of the foreign victims came from Britain, six from Romania, and one each from Spain, Canada and El Salvador.

Authorities said they expected to confirm more deaths as the search operation continues.  So far, more than 200 people have been pulled alive from mounds of rubble.  Rescue crews aided by sniffer dogs have been digging through crumbled homes looking for more survivors.

The civil protection agency said that of the 5,400 people working under its command in the devastating zone, including police, soldiers and firemen, more than half were volunteers.

Italian National Institute of Geophysical and Volcanology has registered hundreds of aftershocks and said it is closely monitoring the highly seismic area along the Apennine mountain range

Allies offer help

Allied countries, such as Germany, France and Israel all offered to send teams to support the disaster relief, but the Italian government has politely declined, saying its hugely experienced emergency service and army of unpaid workers did not need any support.

The World Trade Center in New York responded to the tragedy Thursday night by lighting its 124-meter spire in the green, white and red colors of the Italian flag.

Italy’s Culture Ministry has decreed that proceeds from public museums across Italy this coming Sunday will be used to help restore damaged buildings in the affected areas.

Several churches and other medieval-era buildings were damaged or destroyed in Wednesday’s quake.

In a statement Thursday, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini urged Italians to visit museums and Italy’s numerous archaeological sites Sunday “in a concrete sign of solidarity” with quake victims.
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