15,000 housed in shelters after 2 months of quakes in Italy

NORCIA, Italy, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- More than 15,000 people are being housed in temporary shelters in Italy after a series of earthquakes in the country's central region, including a 6.6-magnitude temblor Sunday, emergency officials said.

There have not been reports of deaths due to the earthquake, the epicenter of which was 40 miles southwest of Perugia near Norcia -- a town already trying to recover from a previous series of large quakes.

Italy's Civil Protection Department on Monday said more than 15,000 people have been housed by authorities due to tremors since the Aug. 24 quake near Amatrice that killed nearly 300 people and injured more than 350.

About 500 are being housed in hotels near Italy's Lake Trasimeno and another 4,000 in hotels on the Adriatic Sea's coast.

"In addition, there are about 3,000 people in the Umbria region and the other 7,000 in the Marche region hosted in the initial reception structures set up at the municipal level," the department said in a statement.

Of those displaced by the Aug. 24 quake, about 1,100 people remain displaced -- mostly being housed in the San Benedetto del Tronto city.

Dozens of historic buildings have been destroyed by Sunday's 6.6-magnitude earthquake. Many of the town's residents previously evacuated due to quakes on Wednesday, one of which was measured a magnitude of 6.4.

Yvette C. Hammett and Doug G. Ware contributed to this report.