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Calgarian recounts Italian earthquake horror

Calgary restaurant owner Fabio Centini was in his home town of Aquasanta Terme in central Italy this week when a massive earthquake struck, killing more than 250.

Fabio Centini was about 15 kilometres from epicentre when quake hit early Wednesday

Dave Dormer · CBC News ·

Fabio Centini on Italian earthquake

8 years ago
Duration 0:53
Fabio Centini speaks about the earthquake that killed more than 150 in central Italy

Calgary restaurant owner Fabio Centini was in his home town of Aquasanta Terme in central Italy this week when a massive earthquake struck, killing more than 250 people.

The town is about 15 kilometres from the quake's epicentre.

"And all of a sudden you're looking, the room's shaking, and the bed's shaking," Centini told CBC News via Skype.

"I'm a pretty big guy and the bed ended up in the middle of the room, with me in it."

The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck about 3:30 a.m. Italian time Wednesday.

"You could hear the rocks coming down the mountains and it just sounded like fireworks. It was just an incredible noise and that went on for four or five minutes."

Rescuers work amid collapsed building in Amatrice, central Italy on Thursday. (Italian Firefighters Vigili del Fuoco via Associated Press)

Aftershocks continued throughout the night.

"So, [Wednesday] night my aunt and uncle, they slept in the car, because they live on the third floor," said Centini.

"I'm on the first floor so I could run out pretty quick. But it was scary. Let's just put it this way, I slept with my shoes on and I was ready to go in a nano second."

As relief efforts continue in the area, survivors were grappling with the loss.

A car in Amatrice, Italy is crushed by rubble from collapsed buildings following the deadly 6.2 magnitude earthquake. (Richard Devey/CBC)

"There's a lot of despair," said Centini.

"[The earthquake] didn't take away a person, it took away a family. I was with one gentleman and the person that was living beside him, his son and daughter-in-law, with two girls, were gone."

Centini said he plans to stay in the region until next week to help family members.

Back in Calgary, Linda Blasetti of the Italian Cultural Centre says some Calgarians are desperately trying to connect with family and friends. 

"Typical ways of reaching each other — Skype, the telephone — has been very difficult. We know that Facebook, Twitter, those types of social media, have become the main tool."

Calgarians who want to help are asked to give to the Red Cross.

With files from Allison Dempster

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