Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Aerial footage shows the devastation to villages in central Italy

Towns and villages in central Italy have been hit by an earthquake for the fourth time in three months.

The 6.6-magnitude quake - Italy's strongest in decades - struck close to the region where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August.

This time no-one appears to have died, but about 20 people were injured.

The medieval basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre, was among buildings destroyed.

An evacuation of buildings in the region deemed vulnerable to seismic activity last week, following strong aftershocks from August's quake, may have saved lives.

Tremors from this latest earthquake were felt in the capital Rome, where the Metro system was shut down, and as far away as Venice in the north.

The head of the national civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, said there had been extensive damage to many historic buildings but no deaths had been registered.

"About 20 people are injured. As far as people are concerned, the situation is positive, but many buildings are in a critical state in historic centres and there are problems with electricity and water supplies," he added.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised that everything will be rebuilt, saying resources will be found.

"We are going through a really tough period," he said. "We must not allow the profound pain, fatigue and stress that we have now to turn into resignation."

Image copyright EPA Image caption The medieval basilica erected in St Benedict's name was almost completely destroyed

Pope Francis mentioned the quake in his Sunday blessing in Rome's St Peter's Square.

"I'm praying for the injured and the families who have suffered the most damage, as well as for rescue and first-aid workers," he said to loud applause.

Why multiple quakes are hitting Italy - by Jonathan Amos, BBC science correspondent

We have now seen three magnitude-6 tremors in Italy's Apennines region in just three months.

The big picture is reasonably well understood. Wider tectonic forces in the Earth's crust have led to the Apennines being pulled apart at a rate of roughly 3mm per year - about a 10th of the speed at which your fingernails grow.

But this stress is then spread across a multitude of different faults that cut through the mountains. And this network is fiendishly complicated.

It does now look as though August's event broke two neighbouring faults, starting on one known as the Laga and then jumping across to one called the Vettore.

The mid-week tremors appear to have further broken the northern end of the Vettore. But both in August and mid-week, it seems only the top portions of the faults have gone, and the big question is whether the deeper segments have now failed in the latest event.

Read more from Jonathan Amos

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was 68km south-east of the regional centre of Perugia and close to the small town of Norcia, which is believed to be the birthplace of St Benedict.

Images from the town show the almost complete destruction of the medieval basilica erected in St Benedict's name, with just its facade left standing.

"It was like a bomb went off," said the town's deputy mayor, Pierluigi Altavilla.

"We are starting to despair. There are too many quakes now, we can't bear it anymore."

At the scene: James Reynolds in Norcia

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's James Reynolds in Norcia: Many residents "have chosen to stay in the park, the safest place"

The earthquakes have left the residents of Norcia anxious and shattered. Stefano and his family have slept in a camper van since the first quake in August - they decided it was too dangerous to sleep indoors. He's now looking to get his family out of here.

In the hour after I arrived, there were two sizeable aftershocks - which sent bits of masonry from the town's ancient walls to the ground. The aftershocks added to the tension felt by residents here.

An emergency HQ has been set up in a car park. Civil protection officials are assessing the damage.

Next to a petrol station, there is a group of people with their bags packed, ready to leave. They don't want to wait for another quake to hit.

Giuseppe Pezzanesi, mayor of Tolentino in the neighbouring Marche region, said the small town had "suffered our blackest day yet".

"The damage is irreparable. There are thousands of people in the streets, terrified, crying. Let's hope that is an end to it, the people are on their knees psychologically."

The towns of Castelsantangelo and Preci have also suffered considerable damage, but were mainly abandoned after last week's quakes, of magnitude 5.5 and 6.1.

Castelsantangelo's mayor, quoted by La Stampa newspaper, said there were no casualties at all in the town as "everyone had already left".

The mayors of the villages of Ussita and Arquata said many buildings had collapsed there too.

Image copyright AP

Image copyright AFP

Central Italy has seen several major quakes in recent years. Earthquakes which devastated the town of L'Aquila in 2009 and Amatrice in August this year killed about 300 people each.

But they both measured only 6.2 and were deeper than Sunday's earthquake.

Italy's most violent earthquakes since 1900 </s> Officials in central Italy began to assess the damage caused by a pair of strong earthquakes in the same region of central Italy hit by a deadly quake in August, as authorities scrambled to find housing for thousands of displaced residents. </s> A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 has rocked the same area of central and southern Italy hit by a quake in August and a pair of aftershocks last week.

It sent already damaged buildings crumbling after a week of quakes that have left thousands homeless.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. Residents already rattled by a constant trembling of the earth rushed into piazzas and streets after being roused from bed by quake at 7.40am local time.

Many people had still been sleeping in cars or evacuated to shelters or hotels in other areas after a pair of strong jolts last Wednesday.

Television images showed nuns rushing out of their church and into the main piazza in Norcia as the clock tower appeared about to crumble.

The mayor of quake-hit Ussita said a huge cloud of smoke erupted from the crumbled buildings.

“It’s a disaster, a disaster!” Mayor Marco Rinaldi told the ANSA news agency. “I was sleeping in the car and I saw hell.”

Another hard-hit city, Castelsantangelo sul Nera, also suffered new damage. In Arquata del Tronto, which had been devastated by the August 24 earthquake that killed nearly 300 people, Arquata Mayor Aleandro Petrucci said.

“There are no towns left. Everything came down,” he said.

The quake was felt throughout the Italian peninsula, with reports as far north as Bolzano and as far south as Bari. Residents rushed into the streets in Rome, where ancient palazzi shook, swayed and lurched for a prolonged spell.

The head of the civil protection authority in the March region, Cesare Spuri, said there have been reports of buildings collapsing in many cities.

In Norcia, nuns knelt in prayer and a firefighter appealed to a priest to help maintain calm among dozens of residents gathered there, including some in wheelchairs.

The church, which had withstood the August earthquake in August and last week’s aftershocks, was still standing, but television pictures showed piles of stone had accumulated at the bottom of one wall. One stone was thrown meters into the centre of the piazza, illustrating the quake’s force.

“We have to keep people calm. Prayer can help. I don’t want people to go searching for family members,” the firefighter appealed as cameras from SKY TG24 filmed.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the magnitude at 6.6 or 6.5 with an epicentre 132 kilometres north-east of Rome and 67 kilometres east of Perugia, near the epicentre of last week’s quakes. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.6.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences put the magnitude at 6.5 and said it had a depth of 10 kilometres, a relatively shallow quake near the surface but in the norm for the quake-prone Apennine Mountain region. </s> ROME - A series of strong earthquakes rocked a wide area of central Italy on Wednesday, striking fear among residents rattled by a deadly tremor in August, but there were no reports of casualties and few serious injuries.

The three quakes, which struck about two hours apart from each other, caused the collapse of several old structures, including a number of historic rural churches that were empty at the time.

The first measure magnitude 5.4, the second 6.1 and the third 4.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

About five hours after the first quake, Civil Protection department chief Fabrizio Curcio said "tens" of people were reported hurt but only four suffered serious, non-life threatening injuries.

"The reports are not as catastrophic as we feared," he said.

All indications were that the damage would not approach that caused by the major quake that struck the Marche, Lazio and Umbria regions on Aug. 24, which devastated several towns and killed nearly 300 people.

Amateur video footage on television showed clouds of dust rising as parts of buildings collapsed in some towns, including Camerino in the Marche region, where a bell tower fell on a building.

Massive boulders, some the size of cars, fell on the main north-south road of the Nera River valley that links mountain communities.

The tremors sent residents running into the streets in the rain and were strong enough to be felt as far south as the outskirts of Naples more than 250 km (150 miles) away and as far north as Venice, some 300 km (180 miles) away. Masonry fell from some buildings in Rome. </s> Campi, Italy (CNN) No deaths were reported Thursday in a part of central Italy rocked hours earlier by two powerful quakes, but the destruction of historic buildings led people to count the damage in the loss of their precious cultural heritage.

As dawn broke in the area, about 50 miles north of where a deadly quake killed nearly 300 people in August , rescuers were fearful of mudslides and wary about the risk of bringing heavy equipment up narrow roads linking the towns, villages and hamlets in this hilly region of the country.

The two temblors were followed by small aftershocks and one larger aftershock, measuring magnitude 4.3, which struck at 8:21 a.m. (2:21 a.m. ET) Thursday. There were no immediate reports of further damage resulting from that aftershock.

The second of the two quakes Wednesday -- with a magnitude 6.1 -- was 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) north of Visso and 58 kilometers (36 miles) from Perugia, the US Geological Survey reported.

A few hours earlier, a magnitude 5.5 quake struck the same region. The epicenter was about 9 kilometers away, south-southwest of Visso. That quake hit at 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) between Perugia and Macerata, according to ANSA.

Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes A woman walks among debris at the Church of St. Antony, dating from the 14th century, in the town of Visso on Thursday, October 27, after a pair of earthquakes rocked central Italy. A magnitude 5.5 quake struck Wednesday, October 26, followed hours later by a magnitude 6.1 temblor. No deaths were reported, but historic buildings were damaged in the region where a powerful quake killed nearly 300 people in August. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes Visso was among the more heavily damaged towns, including this post office on October 27. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes Visso residents carry some of their belongings in the aftermath on October 27. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes A house lies in ruins in Visso on October 27. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes Firefighters inspect damage in Visso on October 27. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes People wander around Visso on October 27 after the quake destroyed part of their neighborhood. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes A child sleeps in a secured area after earthquakes rocked Visso on October 26. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes The Church of San Sebastiano stands amid damaged houses in Castelsantangelo sul Nera on October 26. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes Rescuers and residents inspect earthquake damage in Visso. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes The epicenter of the first earthquake was about nine kilometers (five miles) south-southwest of Visso. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes A Halloween dummy rests on a wall in front of earthquake damage in Visso. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Central Italy shaken by 2 earthquakes Residents prepare to spend the night in makeshift shelters in Visso. Hide Caption 12 of 12

Italy's Civil Protection Agency said one person injured in Visso was taken to a hospital in Camerino, nearly 20 miles away, while dozens of others required medical attention in health facilities in the area.

The agency said a fire department helicopter would take off as soon as weather conditions allowed to rescue five people stranded overnight because of a landslide in Acquasanta.

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There was significant damage to some buildings in Visso and another town, Campi, where the tremors destroyed the historic church, San Salvatore -- the first severely damaged the 15th-century structure, and the second finished it off.

There were constant, small aftershocks throughout Thursday morning in Campi.

Residents, some with tears in their eyes, came to see what remained of San Salvatore, not only a part of the area's cultural heritage but also of significance as the scene of baptisms, weddings and funerals.

One of the quakes leaves a house destroyed Thursday in the central Italian town of Visso.

Civil Protection Agency officials assisted one elderly man carrying a basket of flowers he wanted to leave at the cemetery.

Earlier, streetlights, likely powered by generators, remained on in Campi, but houses were dark. In many small towns, in the pre-dawn hours, there was little light, further hampering rescue efforts.

A post office is damaged in Visso following the quakes.

Hundreds of people slept in their cars in Campi, with blankets covering the windows. Cars were parked everywhere -- streets, gas stations, parking lots. Some residents had their dogs with them.

Local media said one man had suffered a heart attack.

Residents expressed worry that another, bigger tremor might cause even more damage.

The US Geological Survey said both of Wednesday's earthquakes were shallow.

The main square and church in nearby Norcia, a couple of miles to the south, were badly damaged, but the church was still standing.

Residents carry some of their belongings after part of Visso was destroyed.

Reminders of August quake

Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesman for the Italian branch of the Red Cross, told CNN that many people left their homes after the first shock and went outside when the second earthquake hit about two hours later.

A child sleeps Wednesday in a secured area of Visso after the earthquakes.

Visso is about 110 miles northeast of Rome and 50 miles north of Amatrice, the small town that lost about 270 residents when a magnitude 6.2 quake hit on August 24. Another 20 people were killed in nearby towns.

Incredible aftershock or earthquake felt in Testaccio in Rome. Wow. — Barbie Latza Nadeau (@BLNadeau) October 26, 2016

The impact from Wednesday's quakes was even felt in Rome.

Video recorded by CNN affiliate Rai television showed a road to Visso that was largely blocked by a massive boulder. Cars were having to drive carefully around it.

Stone buildings in the town also were heavily damaged.

Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake An emergency responder passes by the rubble of the building in Amatrice where Roberto Partenza and his family lived before the earthquake struck in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, August 24. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake Emergency crews huddle near the iconic Amatrice clock tower still standing amid the rubble. The frozen hands of the clock rest at the time of the earthquake: 3:36 a.m. local time. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake The destroyed interior of a home is seen in Amatrice. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake The destroyed convent of Amatrice is visible from the Italian Red Cross field headquarters in Amatrice. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake A K-9 rescue crew regroups outside of the red zone in Amatrice. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake Three days on, various emergency response groups congregate in an open area in Amatrice. Rescuers were initially hindered by the lack of access to the mountain town. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake An camp for emergency volunteers is erected in a park in Amatrice. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake Rescuers congregate in the shade near a temporary camp under construction for residents displaced by the earthquake in Amatrice. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake A view of the tent camp set up by the Civil Protection Agency in the Abruzzo region as temporary housing for displaced residents from the mountain commune of Accumoli. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake AnnaMaria Volpetti, 52, stands at the entrance of the tent where she and her family have sought refuge after their ancestral holiday home was ruined in Accumoli. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake The gated doorframe of a home is the only part of it that remains standing. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake Emergency personnel survey a cordoned-off area in the center of Amatrice. Much of the town is now inaccessible to everyone but authorities. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake Cars caked in a layer of thick debris dust are parked in central Amatrice. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake A poster for the 50th anniversary of Amatrice's famous pasta festival, set to take place the weekend following the earthquake, remains on the perimeter of a park now occupied by emergency response volunteers. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Shattered vistas from Italy's August earthquake A neat fracture line in the pavement is a telling sign of the earth's violent movement below the streets of Amatrice. Hide Caption 15 of 15

Della Longa said buildings that fell in the Amatrice area have been unoccupied since the August quake. The area remains off-limits. People displaced by that quake have been forced to move once again. </s> Italy earthquake: churches, chapels destroyed as magnitude-6.6 tremor hits medieval town

Updated

An earthquake in Italy on Sunday struck the medieval walled town of Norcia as nuns, monks and priests were heading to morning prayer services, giving them just enough time to flee as the walls around them plunged to the ground.

Key points: Magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits central region of Italy causing extensive damage

Churches, monasteries and chapels in the region of Norcia were destroyed

Earlier tremors had prompted people to flee their homes, preventing any deaths when the major quake struck

The quake hit the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months.

The magnitude-6.6 earthquake caused extensive damage but no fatalities, despite registering much higher than the earthquake which stuck on August 24 and killed almost 300 people.

Weakened by repeated powerful jolts in recent weeks, many of Norcia's churches, monasteries and chapels were wrecked.

"We thought it was the end of everything," said 74-year-old Sister Maria Raffaella Buoso after being evacuated from the Monastery of the Poor Clares of Santa Maria della Pace.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake was centred 68 kilometres east-southeast of Perugia at a depth of 1.5 kilometres.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville told the ABC that at that depth, the earthquake was very shallow and had the potential to cause anything nearby to be catastrophically damaged.

"If it's a deep earthquake at 10, 20 or even 30 kilometres, the seismic waves have to travel through more earth before they reach the surface, but at such a shallow depth there is a lot less to dampen the waves effect on the buildings," he said.

Italy's history of earthquakes Oct. 31, 2002 — Earthquake measuring 5.9 hits Campobasso, south-central Italy, killing 30 people, most of them children, in San Giuliano di Puglia.

April 6, 2009 — Earthquake measuring 6.3 strikes the Abruzzo region east of Rome. It kills more than 300 people and devastates the 13th century city of L'Aquila.

May 29, 2012 — 17 people killed, 350 injured in a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the area around Modena in northern Italy, 10 days after a tremor killed 10 in the same area.

Aug 24, 2016 — 297 people killed when a 6.2 magnitude quake hits the central hilltown of Amatrice and nearby towns and villages.

That there were no reports of fatalities was largely due to the fact that thousands had left their homes after the earlier temblors.

Some 20 people suffered minor injuries.

Premier Matteo Renzi pledged that wrecked homes, churches and businesses would rise again, saying they were part of Italy's national identity.

"We will rebuild everything," Mr Renzi said.

"We are dealing with marvellous territories, territories of beauty."

Department head Fabrizio Curcio said the agency was using helicopters to tend to the injured and assess damage.

'It's as if the whole city fell down'

Norcia's historic Basilica of St Benedict was among the buildings destroyed.

The Monks of Norcia tweeted images of the damage and said people were trapped in the town's main square, with fears nearby buildings might collapse.

"Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits end," Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia said.

"It's as if the whole city fell down," Norcia city assessor Guiseppina Perla told the ANSA news agency.

The destruction of the Norcia basilica is the single most significant loss of Italy's artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.

The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.

During his Sunday blessing Pope Francis offered his prayers to those affected.

"I'm praying for the injured and the families who have suffered the most damage, as well as for rescue and first-aid workers."

Priests advised to hold outdoor mass

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Umbria, advised parish priests not to hold mass inside churches.

He told priests in the Umbria region to hold mass outdoors, the ANSA news agency said.

The quake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula and was felt strongly in the capital Rome.

Marco Rinaldi, Mayor of quake-hit Ussita, north of Norcia, said a huge cloud of smoke erupted from the crumbled buildings.

"It's a disaster, a disaster," he told the ANSA news agency.

"I was sleeping in the car and I saw hell."

The town of Arquata del Tronto, east of Norcia, which was devastated by earthquakes two months ago that killed nearly 300 people and levelled several small towns, suffered fresh damage.

"Everything came down," Mayor Aleandro Petrucci said.

Further south in Amatrice, the St Augustine church, which had survived August's quake, crumbled.

The earthquake followed a series of tremors to strike the country in the past five days.

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck east of the city on Wednesday, the second of the evening whose tremors were felt as far away as the capital Rome.

Mr Curcio said 1,300 people displaced by Wednesday's quakes had been evacuated to the coast in recent days.

ABC/wires

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, earthquake, italy

First posted </s> A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 has rocked central Italy, sending already quake-damaged buildings crumbling after a week of tremors that have left thousands homeless.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or death.

Residents already rattled by a constant trembling of the earth rushed into piazzas and streets after being roused from bed by yesterday’s 7:40 am quake.

Nuns rushed out of their church in Norcia as the clock tower appeared about to crumble.

“We are definitely seeing some damage [already],” journalist Seema Gupta, reporting from Rome, told Al Jazeera.

“We are seeing images of smoke covered over buildings that have crumbled to the ground,” she added. “Many are centuries-old buildings not built to modern standards.”

The quake measured 6.6 according to the US Geological Survey and was centred close to the Umbrian town of Norcia, where the historic Basilica of St. Benedict was badly damaged.

The Survey also said the quake was centred 132 km northeast of Rome and 68 km east of Perugia, near the epicentre of last week’s trembols.

It reportedly had a depth of 1.5 km, a relatively shallow quake near the surface but in the norm for the quake-prone Apennine Mountain region.

The earthquake was the biggest since almost 300 people were killed in central Italy on August 24 by a quake that levelled several small towns.— Al Jazeera. </s> Multiple moderate earthquakes struck central Italy Wednesday afternoon, shaking many of the same towns that were devastated by a pair of devastating tremors last year.

The U.S. Geological Survey said four earthquakes of magnitude 5.1 or higher were located near the town of Amatrice, the first of which struck at 10:25 a.m. local time (4:25 a.m. EST) Wednesday morning. The largest tremor was a 5.7, which was reported 3 miles west-southwest of Amatrice at 11:14 a.m. local time. Preliminary reports showed all of the quakes had a depth of 6.2 miles.

Speaking in Berlin after a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni said, "Luckily it seems there were no deaths," according to the Associated Press. Shaking was felt as far away as Rome, and as a precaution, the subway was shut down in Rome, and parents were asked to pick up their children from school early, the AP also reported.

(MORE: How to Help the Victims of the Deadly 2016 Italy Earthquakes )

Officials told local media that heavy snow in central Italy crippled travel in recent days, which would further complicate rescue and relief efforts. In some areas, electricity was already knocked out by the storms, and the earthquakes knocked out phone service and sent some residents into a panic.

"The situation is really getting extreme," said Franco Campitelli, the mayor of Canzano. "It's snowing hard. We're without electricity. We hope the army gets here soon with snow plows or we risk being completely isolated," he told Sky TG24.

The region is rebuilding from a pair of devastating earthquakes that collapsed many buildings and killed upwards of 300 last year. In August, a 6.2 magnitude quake largely wiped out towns and killed at least 240 , according to the New York Times. Two months later, a 6.6 magnitude tremor – the strongest to hit Italy in more than 30 years – left more injuries and damage in the same areas , CNN reported.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: The Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1990 </s> The quake, which measured 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was bigger than one on Aug. 24 that killed almost 300 people. Many people have fled the area since then, helping to avoid a new devastating death toll.

With thousands already made homeless, a leading seismologist warned that the earthquakes could go on for weeks in a domino effect along the central Apennine fault system.

The latest quake was felt across much of Italy, its epicenter close to the historic Umbrian walled town of Norcia, some 60 miles from the university city of Perugia.

Panicked Norcia residents rushed into the streets and the town's ancient Basilica of St. Benedict collapsed, leaving just the facade standing. Nuns, monks and locals sank to their knees in the main square in silent prayer before the shattered church.

"This is a tragedy. It is a coup de grace. The basilica is devastated," Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia told Reuters.

"Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits' end," said Boccardo, referring to the thousands of tremors that have rattled the area since August, including two serious quakes on Wednesday.

Italy's Civil Protection unit, which coordinates disaster relief, said numerous houses were destroyed on Sunday in the regions of Umbria and Marche, but either they were deserted at the time or most of the residents managed to escape in time.

Civil Protection chief Fabrizio Curcio said no deaths had been reported and around 20 people were injured, none of them critically. He said it was too early to say how many more people had lost their homes.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised a massive reconstruction effort regardless of cost and took advantage of the disaster to resume his frequent criticism of the European Union's public finance rules.

"We will rebuild everything, the houses, the churches and the businesses," he told reporters. "Everything that needs to be done to rebuild these areas will be done."

He said he would have "no regard for technocratic rules" and would consider all money spent to make Italy's schools and hospitals earthquake-proof to be outside EU limits on budget deficits.

Local authorities said towns and villages already battered by August's 6.2 quake had suffered further significant damage.

"This morning's quake has hit the few things that were left standing. We will have to start from scratch," Michele Franchi, the deputy mayor of Arquata del Tronto, told Rai television.

Experts said Sunday's quake was the strongest here since a 6.9 quake in Italy's south in 1980 that killed 2,735 people .

The destruction of the Norcia basilica was the single most significant loss of Italy's artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, which is 80 km to the north.

The frescoed basilica, which is the spiritual, historic and tourist heart of Norcia, was built over the site of the home where the founder of the Benedictine order and his Sister St. Scolastica were born in 480.

The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St. Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.

Benedict founded the Benedictine order in Subiaco, near Rome. He died in 530 in the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, which was destroyed during World War Two. That monastery was later rebuilt.

A number of other churches were also ruined on Sunday, Italian media reported, including Norcia's Cattedrale di Santa Maria, which was built in the 16th century, while the town hall belltower had deep cracks running through its walls.

However, most of Norcia's homes appeared to have withstood the prolonged tremor, with residents praising years of investment by local authorities in anti-seismic protection.

In the nearby city of Rieti, patients were evacuated from a hospital to allow experts to check on structural damage, while hillroads across the region were littered with fallen rocks.

Sunday's earthquake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.

It was also felt strongly in the capital, Rome, where transport authorities shut down the metro system for precautionary checks. Authorities also toured the city's main Roman Catholic basilicas looking for possible damage.

Italy sits on two geological fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.

Its deadliest quake since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when a tremor followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.
A series of earthquakes strikes a region of Central Italy already impacted by a major quake in August. Many buildings are damaged or destroyed across several towns.