Six people died on Sunday, including a woman aged 103, after an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale - almost as strong as a major 2009 quake - hit northern Italy, dpa reported. An aftershock with a magnitude of 5.1 hit the area on Sunday afternoon, the news agency Ansa reported. Old buildings including churches and towers collapsed or were cracked in. An estimated 3,000 people were left homeless. The initial quake hit the region of Emilia-Romagna at 4.04 am (0204GMT). The epicentre was 36 kilometres north of the city of Bologna and had a depth of around 10 kilometres, according to the National Geophysical and Volcanic Institute. Television images showed footage of collapsed buildings and churches, with rubble covering the streets. The worse hit were the towns of San Felice and Finale Emilia, where many historic buildings were severely damaged. The quake also shook the city of Ferrara, listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO on account of its Renaissance palaces. Four people died when the factory buildings they were working in collapsed. Two workers died in a ceramics factory in Sant'Agostino, nearFerrara, while a third died at a metal-working factory in the same area. The fourth was killed in an industrial area in the town of Bondeno, around 15 kilometres from Sant Agostino.
