By Brian Thompson, Meteorologist
October 30,2016; 8:30PM,EDT
The strongest earthquake to hit Italy since 1980 struck on Sunday morning, damaging numerous buildings and injuring many.
The U.S. Geological Survey assigned the quake a preliminary magnitude of 6.6, with a depth of 10 km.
The earthquake occurred at 7:40 a.m. on Sunday, local time, and was centered 132 km (82 miles) northeast of Rome, near the town of Norcia.
According to the Associated Press, buildings collapsed in some of the hardest-hit areas. One building that sustained major damage was the 14th century St. Benedict cathedral. Several people were also injured, though there were no immediate reports of fatalities.
Several aftershocks have been reported since the initial quake with at least six having a magnitude of at least 4.0.
This area was hit by a 6.2-magnitude quake in August, which caused major damage and killed 290 people.
More recently, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck central Italy on Oct. 26.
Sunday's earthquake is the strongest one on record to strike Italy since the Irpinia earthquake in 1980. That earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.9 in 1980 and struck the southern portion of the country, killing over two thousand people.
#terremotocentroitalia la strada che porta a Norcia
"The weather will be mainly dry across Italy early this week as high pressure settles in," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said. "However, a cold front may bring a few showers at midweek."
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jordan Root also contributed to this story.
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