Experts: More Significant Quakes Expected After Massive 6.6 Magnitude Tremblor Strikes Italy

After central Italy was rocked by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake Sunday morning, experts say they can't exclude the possibility that there will be more, possibly stronger aftershocks in the area near Norcia .

British Geological Survey seismologist Margarita Segou told the Associated Press that the important thing to realize is that, while the number of temblors will decline over time, "we cannot  exclude the possibility of larger magnitude aftershocks. 

Carlo Doglioni,  president of Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology, Carlo Doglioni, told The Associated Press that the intense activity along a series of faults in the region wasn't anomalous and ​that more significant quakes can be expected.

He said there was a similar sequence of three seismic events within a period of months in 1703, adding "it is normal for the Apennines," where there are a series of interdependent faults.

Doglioni said that natural law dictates that after such an event that there will be more quakes, "which means we can expect some 5 magnitude quakes and many of magnitude 4."

The USGS says the quake was centered about 4 miles north of Norica, Italy, and hit at 7:40 a.m. local time. Last Wednesday's 6.1 and 5.5 magnitude earthquakes were also centered in this same general area, along with many aftershocks in the following days.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, but about 20 people had suffered injuries as numerous buildings that had resisted the previous temblors collapsed. 

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the nation's "soul is disturbed" by the series of quakes that began with the deadly Aug. 24 quake that killed almost 300 people. 

He has vowed that the country will rebuild the homes, churches and other structures destroyed by the temblor, which is the latest to strike the region since Wednesday.

https://www.wunderground.com/news/italy-earthquake-sunday

Rubble of a collapsed building in L'Aquila, central Italy, after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 struck central Italy, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016. A powerful earthquake rocked the same area of central and southern Italy hit by quake in August and a pair of aftershocks last week, sending already quake-damaged buildings crumbling after a week of temblors that have left thousands homeless. (Alberto Orsini/ANSA via AP)