'We've returned to the stone age': Quake levels Italian town

CASTELLUCCIO DI NORCIA, Italy -- Some houses are collapsed, pancaked piles of stones and plaster. A pair of skis stick out. Some are cracked open neatly, exposing living rooms frozen in time.

The central Italian mountain village of Castelluccio di Norcia, among the most heavily hit by Sunday's earthquake, is known for the beautiful blossoms of its lentil fields and historic charm. Now it's a ghost town.

With the roads cut off, almost all of the 300 inhabitants were evacuated by helicopter. They all survived after an earlier quake in August prompted them to move into safer housing like camper vans or containers.

But a small group of 13 hardy souls refuses to leave. Mostly farmers, they want to stay close to their cattle, sheep and horses -- their livelihood, without which they would truly have nothing left to come back for.

"Practically, we've returned to the stone age," said Augusto Coccia, 65.

He was among the farmers housed in containers in the town square, eating breakfast, when the earthquake struck. It bounced the containers about and filled the air with a thick fog of dust.

The 6.6-magnitude tremor, the country's most powerful in 36 years, pulled down buildings and historic churches in villages across the Appenine mountains. In Castelluccio, the ground is now as much as two feet lower, according to the national geophysics institute.

This town's plight was worsened by the fact the roads were cut off. Rescue helicopters brought in the bare necessities -- food and water -- on Sunday but little else.

Coccia and the others who stayed behind cook under the open sky with gas canisters.

They have no heating, electricity or constant water supply. The temperature drops to as low as minus 20 degrees at night.

"The medical supplies were delivered to us today. It's been three days since we requested them, but it's very hard to get them to us," he said.

Besides helicopter, the only way to get to Castelluccio is by four-by-four vehicles through an hour and a half of rough terrain. Some residents of the area made the trip, as did forest rangers, with whom The Associated Press traveled.

Among those making their way to Castelluccio on Tuesday was Vincenzo Brandimarte, 63.

He recently had built an inn here using modern earthquake-resistant planning -- and it was one of the few buildings that did not collapse or crack.

"Today I began to cry when I saw the town with my own eyes," he said. "This is worse than war. If it had been a real war, maybe the town wouldn't have been destroyed to this extent."