The quake-stricken Lazio town of Amatrice's town hall collapsed after the second of two strong tremors that struck the central Apennines late Wednesday, mayor Sergio Pirozzi told Adnkronos.
"It and other buildings were badly damaged," Pirozzi told Adnkronos.
He was speaking after the magnitude 5.4 and 5.9 earthquakes that struck Lazio's neighbouring Marche and Umbria regions on Wednesday evening, causing buildings to collapse and leaving many hundreds homeless.
"The important thing is that Amatrice's towers are still standing - that its symbols have endured," Pirozzi said.
Known as the 'red palace' the town hall was among the few buildings in Amatrice's historic centre largely unscathed by the devastating 24 August earthquake in central Italy killed 297 people, 231 of them in Amatrice.
Amatrice's 13th-century clock tower stopped just after the magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck at 3.36am on 24 August. The medieval tower lost its bell but was one of the few buildings in the town to remain intact.
Amatrice and several other hillside towns were flattened by the 24 August temblor, which left 4,000 left homeless in the border region between Lazio, Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo and caused an estimated four billion euros of damage.
