L'AQUILA, Italy – Relatives of the missing waited in agony Tuesday as rescuers dug desperately by hand for earthquake survivors, jarred by a strong aftershock that drove home the continuing danger in this historic central Italian city.

The death toll from Italy's worst earthquake in three decades jumped to 207 as bodies were recovered and identified. Tent camps housed some of the 17,000 left homeless by Italy's worst earthquake in three decades, but many spent the night in the chill mountain air without blankets or covers.

Officials said some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed; teams planned to begin surveying those buildings still standing on Wednesday to see if residents could move back in.

Aerial footage showed the scale of the destruction in this city of Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance architectural treasures. Roofs were missing from modern buildings, old churches had fallen walls and parts of medieval buildings had tumbled to the ground.

Rescuers located four students trapped inside a partially collapsed dormitory Tuesday afternoon. Tearful emergency workers declined to say whether they were alive or dead, telling reporters that doctors would have to announce that.

"Unless there is a miracle, I've been told (by rescuers) that they probably are dead," L'Aquila University rector Ferdinando Di Orio said.

Chief firefighter Sergio Basti ordered the area evacuated so rescue crews could "surgically" remove big chunks of fallen masonry since the four were in a hard-to-reach spot and the building was so unstable.

Firefighters briefed relatives of the victims on the rescue effort, explaining that civilians had to leave the scene for security reasons.

The ANSA news agency said a 24-year-old student, Marta Valente, was pulled alive with the help of expert cave explorers, from the rubble of a four-story building in L'Aquila more than 22 hours after the quake.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi surveyed the devastated region by helicopter and said the rescue efforts would continue for two more days — "until it is certain that there is no one else alive." He said some 15 people were still missing.

Berlusconi said that at least 100 of the roughly 1,000 injured people were in serious condition.

Rescuers ran from the rubble of the four-story dormitory when the 4.9-magnitude aftershock hit at 11:26 a.m., the latest in a series of aftershocks that hit L'Aquila and 26 surrounding towns and cities in the snowcapped Apennine mountains. The aftershock appeared strongest around L'Aquila, a city of some 70,000 people.

Two buildings in the suburb of Pettino collapsed following the aftershock, the news agency ANSA reported, citing fire officials. No one was believed to be inside either building.

The ground shook in the nearly town of Onna, about six miles (10 kilometers) away, but caused no panic. Residents walked around dazed, clutching whatever heirlooms they had managed to grab from their homes before they collapsed.

"We lost 15 members of our family. Babies and children died," 70-year-old retiree Virgilio Colajanni said as he choked back tears. Onna had about 300 residents and lost 38 to the quake.

Civil protection Maj. Cristina DiTommaso, who was helping coordinate the rescue in Onna, said search efforts were complicated by the fact that there were an unknown number of undocumented immigrants there.

Rescuers were still trying to reach more isolated hamlets on Tuesday.

While the elderly, children and pregnant women were given priority at tent camps in the area, others were sleeping in cars or making arrangements to stay with relatives or in second homes out of the quake zone.

Ines D'Alessandro, 98, moved to her sister's home in nearby Sulmona after surviving her second devastating quake. Her first — a 1915 temblor which killed 30,000 people — occurred when she was just four years old, ANSA said.

"It is hard. I cry my heart out for all of these people struck by this tragedy, but one needs to have courage and I try to give it to others. I have fought all of my life," D'Alessandro told ANSA.

Six months pregnant, Sandra Padil spent the night in a tent without any covers in the chill mountain air as the temperatures dipped to 6 Celsius (43 Fahrenheit).

"We are calmer out in the open," said Padil, a 32-year-old Peruvian who has been living in L'Aquila since 1996. "We didn't have blankets and it was cold, but at least this morning they gave us breakfast. Let's hope this ends quickly."

Some elderly people appeared to be disoriented as they walked among the tents, and people tending them complained about the lack of blankets.

Mounting piles of rubble contained torn clothing, ripped stuffed animals and broken furniture.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the main quake — which struck just after 3:30 a.m. Monday — was magnitude 6.3 on the so-called "moment scale," but Italy's National Institute of Geophysics, using the Richter scale, put it at 5.8.

Rescue workers arrived from throughout Italy, from as far away as Venice and Genoa. Part of L'Aquila's main hospital was evacuated for fear of collapse, and few operating rooms were in use.

Law-enforcement cordoned off the areas hardest hit by the quake to prevent looting, including the center of L'Aquila and the towns of Paganica and Onna, Capt. Ivan Centomani of Italy's financial police told Sky Italia TV from L'Aquila.

Italy's national police chief, Antonio Manganelli, said several people had been arrested for looting from abandoned houses.

The quake took a severe toll on L'Aquila's prized architectural heritage. Many landmarks were damaged, including part of the red-and-white stone basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.

The bell tower of the 16th-century San Bernardino church and the cupola of the Baroque Sant'Agostino church also fell, the Culture Ministry said. Stones tumbled down from the city's cathedral, which was rebuilt after a 1703 earthquake.

Damage to monuments was reported as far away as Rome, where cracks appeared at the thermal baths built in the 3rd century by the emperor Caracalla, Culture Ministry official Giuseppe Proietti said.

"There will be earthquakes in many places.  The present ones have been nothing compared to what will happen next.  There will be a great earthquake in the Los Angeles area, and also New York.  I told you this before, My children and My child, but I must repeat to you: Many prayers are needed now, for the balance is most uneasy." Jesus, June 17, 1989

How can we protect our homes, families and loved ones from an earthquake?
    We will be spared of earthquakes if we keep crucifixes on all our outside doors.
    Jesus - "Pray and wear your sacramentals. And, also, My children, I ask you again to place a crucifix upon your door. Both front and back doors must have a crucifix. I say this to you because there will be carnage within your areas, and this will pass you by if you keep your crucifix upon your doors." (6-30-84)

Heaven’s Home Protection Packet...
Our Lord stated we must have crucifixes upon the outside of all of our outside doors. In the "Heaven’s Home Protection Packet" there are instructions, four crucifixes, and a tube of special cement for wooden or metal crucifixes. Wooden crucifixes adhere better to the doors when the aluminum strap is removed from the back. Put a light coat of cement on the back of the crucifix and then press it to the outside of the door. If you have any problems, you can call us at 616-698-6448 for assistance. This Heaven’s Home Protection Packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. Item # P15  (Order Form)

(Testimonies of lives and homes saved by the crucifixes.)  https://www.tldm.org/news/crucifix.htm  

Crucifix to guard entrances to home…
Jesus - "I must reveal, My children, to the world again, that you are to keep a crucifix on your front door and your back door. All entrances to your home must be guarded by the crucifix. There has not been one home on Long Island that had a crucifix on its door that did fall to any evil. I do not speak of the trees, My child; I speak of mankind. You did not know a major disaster as has happened, My children, in Mexico. You see, My child, I set you down in that area to bring the word to mankind, and it was through these words that many listened and the passed through the horrible experience of a hurricane." (10-5-85)

Keep your sacramentals about your necks...
Our Lady - "Keep your sacramentals about your necks. I say about your necks, not for decoration, but because many shall flee with only what they have on their bodies!  It is now a supernatural protection, My children, that you have: your medals, your scapulars, and even your Rosary, your beads of prayer about your neck, your children's necks and all those who wish to be saved.
    "The monuments, the statues, must be kept in your homes.  As it was in the days of old, the angel of death shall pass by those who retain the monuments in their homes." (5-18-77)

Heaven’s Personal Protection Packet . . .
Our Lady tells us to be protected from all evil, we must wear the following sacramentals around our necks: a rosary, a crucifix, the St. Benedict medal, the Miraculous Medal, and the scapular. We have all of these sacramentals in a packet we call "Heaven's Personal Protection Packet." This packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. Item # P5  (Order Form)

Incredible Bayside Prophecies on the United States and Canada book . . .
We have researched the Bayside Prophecies on the United States and Canada and put these outstanding prophecies in a 360 page pocket size paperback book.   Veronica said it was very good.  It tells what is going to happen here and how to prepare for it.  Every North American must read this book!  Item #B2 Cost $5.00 (Order Form)