Two powerful earthquakes struck central Italy on Wednesday about 50 miles north of the site of a deadly quake in August that killed nearly 300 people, the US Geological Survey said.
The second quake -- with a magnitude of 6.1 -- was 3.2 kilometre north of Visso and 58 km from Perugia, the USGS reported.
Just a few hours earlier, a magnitude-5.5 quake struck the same region. The epicentre was about 9 kilometre away, south-southwest of Visso.
There have been no reports yet of injuries.
However, some buildings have collapsed, a motorway has been closed and many people in the countryside were plunged into darkness as the power was knocked out.
The Mayor of the town of Ussita, Marco Rinaldi, said: “It was a very strong earthquake, apocalyptic. People are screaming on the street and now we are without lights.
“Many houses have collapsed. Our town is finished.”
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who is on his way to Rome to monitor the situation, tweeted: “I want to thank everyone who is working in heavy rains in areas of #terremoto. All of Italy embraces the strong communities affected.”
The mayor of Serravalle del Chienti, Gabriele Santamarianova, said the quake felt ‘like bombs were falling’.
“We saw a cloud of dust, we don’t yet know what has fallen down. We’ll see once the sun comes up.”
Wednesday’s quakes come two months after a quake in central Italy killed nearly 300 people.
The August 24 quake - which measured 6.2 -- destroyed the hilltop village of Amatrice and several other small towns.
