At least 12 people were killed in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in northern Italy today, nine days after a 6.0-magnitude quake in the same region killed seven, CNN reports. Italian authorities predicted the death toll would rise as rescue workers searched for survivors in the rubble. The quake, centered in the province of Modena, was followed by dozens of aftershocks, several of more than magnitude 5.0. The towns of Mirandola and Cavezzo were closest to the epicenter; eyewitnesses reported that Cavezzo was about 70 percent destroyed. A spokeswoman for the government office in Modena said as many as 12,000 people could be displaced, including those affected by previous earthquakes throughout the last 10 days. "Damages are very serious," she said. "The old centers of many villages have been closed down to [the] public and many little villages have been completely evacuated." Authorities are working to set up tent camps for those forced from their homes, and many hotels and campsites have also offered space to those in need.
