(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 6 - Fifty years ago, on the evening of May 6, 1976, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake with its epicentre near the Italian town of Gemona del Friuli devastated parts of north Italy, but the quake also violently struck neighbouring west Slovenia, the Slovenian news agency STA writes in a feature published today on the 50th anniversary of the Friuli earthquake. Slovenia, in Yugoslavia, reported one fatality and 31 injuries, but the material damage was extensive. Villages in the Soča Valley were devastated, with approximately 4,000 buildings destroyed and 11,000 damaged. Settlements in the mountainous Breginj area near the Italian border were particularly hard hit, with more than 80% of residents losing their homes, according to STA. (ANSA).