Rescuers search for survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Wednesday in Amatrice, Italy.
(CNN)When Mayor Sergio Pirozzi looked over the ruins of his historic Italian town on Wednesday, his assessment was heartbreaking.
"The town is no more," he said. "Help us."
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake wiped out Amatrice, a town known for its famed Amatriciana pasta dish.
Amatrice was getting ready to hold a festival to celebrate the centuries-old recipe this weekend. Instead, it joins a plethora of cities virtually taken off the map by natural disasters.
Here are five cities nearly annihilated by disaster, and one on the brink of extinction: