Elderly Man Dies as Earthquake Hits Southern Italy

An elderly man died of a heart attack when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit the southern Italian province of Cosenza early Friday, also forcing the evacuation of a local hospital, the Italian Ansa news agency reported.

The quake struck in the early hours causing damage to a number of buildings in the area, the agency added.

The 84-year-old victim suffered heart failure as the quake struck and was dead before the emergency services could reach him.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey the quake, with a 5.3 magnitude, at a depth of 3.8 kilometers, had its epicenter six kilometers south east of Mormanno town in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

Residents rushed into the streets fearing building collapses and the Mormanno hospital was evacuated.

Many homes in the center of the town suffered damage and police said it would take some hours to evaluate the scale of the problem.

"There was a lot of panic, but happily there are no injured," Mormanno mayor Guglielmo Armentano told Ansa.

"In our historic center, there are some damaged buildings. As a precaution we have evacuated the hospital," he added.