UPDATE - Earthquake hits Italian resort island: 2 dead

UPDATES WITH FRESH CASUALTY, RESCUE EFFORTS, NEW SPOT, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) - A 4.0-magnitude earthquake left two women dead on an Italian holiday island, local media reported Tuesday.

The quake on Ischia, an island off Naples, struck at a depth of 5 kilometers (3 miles) just north of the commune of Casamicciola at 8.57 p.m. local time (1957GMT).

One of the victims, an elderly woman, was killed by debris falling from a church and another woman’s body was found in the rubble of collapsed building.

The ANSA news agency said 39 people were injured.

A seven-month-old boy was among those pulled from rubble after buildings collapsed and Angelo Borrelli, head of the Civil Protection Department, said 2,500 people had been forced from their homes, ANSA reported.

La Repubblica newspaper quoted Borrelli as saying emergency workers were trying to reach the baby boy’s two brothers, who had been given water.

Rai News24 said locals and tourists, many who had been in bars and restaurants, rushed into the street when the tremor struck.

Additional ferries from Naples were laid on overnight to bring in rescue workers and evacuate tourists.

The earthquake came just days before the first anniversary of a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed around 300 people in Lazio, central Italy.