ShareWhere it happened The three-storey Hotel Rigopiano lies in Italy’s mountainous and earthquake-prone Abruzzo region, shown here on the main road to Monterale. The area has been pummeled by more than a metre of snow in recent days. On Tuesday, the hotel posted photos of the recent snowfall, calling it “a dream Tuesday. Snow is giving us spectacular scenes.” It advised guests that roads were still passable but snow tires were required with chains for cars. ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES When disaster struck On Wednesday morning, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck, its epicentre about 50 kilometres away from the hotel. It wasn’t immediately clear if the temblors triggered the avalanche. Here, the hotel is seen from the air in a handout image obtained on the Vigili del Fuoco Twitter account on Thursday. HANDOUT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted a text message from a man inside the hotel as saying: “Some walls were knocked down.” Here, a wall of snow is shown engulfing the inside of the hotel after rescuers arrived Thursday. HANDOUT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Footage shows inside of Italy hotel hit by avalanche after earthquake 0:46 How avalanches work MURAT YÜKSELIR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL (SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS) A treacherous journey Rescue efforts were hampered by the large snowfall in recent days. Here, firefighters are shown making their way to the hotel early Thursday. ASSOCIATED PRESS The snow made it difficult to clear roads for heavy vehicles and ambulances to get through. On Thursday, Italian emergency responders faced criticism for the rescue operation, which was one of several in the earthquake-affected region Thursday. Storms have knocked out power and phone lines and blocked roads, isolating towns and hamlets. ITALIAN FIREFIGHTERS/ASSOCIATED PRESS The rescuers arrive A video image shows rescuers shovelling their way in the avalanche area. ASSOCIATED PRESS A video handout released by the Guardia di Finanza on Thursday shows a man being escorted by Alpine policemen and a fireman outside the hotel. HANDOUT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES MORE FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL Why Italy gets more quakes than most in Europe, and how they compare with the world’s deadliest Italy, one of the most seismically active countries in Europe, has a long history of large earthquakes, Leyland Cecco explains. How Canadian scientists are preparing for ‘the big one’ An effective early-warning system could mitigate damage and save lives in the country’s seismic hot spots, science reporter Ivan Semeniuk reports.