Four students in Italy safe after quake, school officials say

Correction Appended

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck central Italy on Monday did not cause injury to four University of Richmond students studying abroad in the country, officials from the Office of International Education confirmed late Monday night.

Program coordinators from the Italian schools assured university officials by 10:30 a.m. ET Monday that they had accounted for all Richmond students, said Abby Ward, the study abroad office's project coordinator for students in Italy this semester.

Two of the students are based in Perugia and one in Rome, which is about 60 miles outside the epicenter in L'Aquila. The other student, Lindsay Gaskill, a junior studying abroad in Siena -- about 160 miles northwest of the epicenter -- said on her Facebook profile that she was "safe and sound" at 3:22 p.m. Monday. An e-mail message sent to her was not immediately returned.

Fewer students than normal are studying in Italy this semester, Ward said. Ward declined to immediately identify them amid concerns for their privacy, but said she would contact them about speaking with a reporter.

One of the students in Perugia -- about 100 miles northwest of the epicenter -- told Ward in an e-mail message that she and her roommate from California had felt tremors, Ward said. The student in Siena whom Ward contacted said she also felt the earthquake in the city.

The two other students have not returned Ward's e-mail messages, she said.

"The thing about students ... is you never know where they really are, just because they're so often traveling," Ward said.

The last time a student was killed while studying abroad in a Richmond program was in 2005, when Andrew D. Holter drowned in the Tibris River in Italy, where he was visiting some Richmond friends.

More than 150 people died in the earthquake and thousands more were injured and left homeless, various news agencies were reporting. Extensive damage was reported to historic buildings in L'Aquila.

"If the epicenter had been in Perugia, our reaction would have been different," said Michele Cox, director of study abroad at Richmond. "With this disaster, we relied on e-mail to contact students. If e-mail hadn't been available, we would have called the State Department."

Students are strongly encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Consulate when they arrive in a foreign country, said Cox, citing natural disasters as one reason for doing so. The study abroad office also requests a student's permanent address and provides emergency cards with the country's emergency equivalent of 911 and information about the nearest Consulate.

"If their phones aren't working, we need the address so someone can check on them," Cox said.

This version of the story CORRECTS that two students are studying in Perugia STED Rome. It also CORRECTS that Ward was contacted by a student in Siena STED Rome.

Contact staff writer Dan Petty at dan.petty@richmond.edu