Strong aftershocks rattle Italian town

The first funerals were scheduled to be held for some of the 267 dead. Some of hard-hit Amatrice’s crumbled buildings suffered more cracks after the biggest aftershock of the morning struck at 6:28 am. The US Geological Service said it had a magnitude of 4.7, while the Italian geophysics institute measured it at 4.8. The aftershock was preceded by a dozen weaker ones overnight and was followed by another nine in the subsequent hour - some of the nearly 1,000 aftershocks that have rocked the seismic area of Italy’s central Apennine Mountains since the original quake. More than a day and a half had passed since the last person was extracted alive from the rubble.