Earthquake strikes central Italy

Rescue teams are searching for survivors after this morning's earthquake in central Italy, which has claimed at least 27 lives and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, churches and other buildings.

The earthquake struck 60 miles north east of Rome at 2.32am British time and is estimated to have been at a depth of 6.2 miles.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the earthquake at magnitude 6.3, and said it was the result of movement along a fault line running north west - south east in the Apennine mountains.

The USGS estimates that a population of 68,000 in L'Aquila will have experienced severe shaking, and ranked the potential damage to structures in the area as "heavy".

A further 62,000 people are estimated to have felt strong or very strong shaking, with a moderate to heavy impact on buildings in the regions affected.

The dense populations of Rome and Naples would have felt only light tremors from the earthquake, the geologists say.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred 150 miles southeast of the location of this morning's earthquake on November 23, 1980, with an estimate population of 252,000 exposed to severe shaking. The earthquake killed an estimated 2,483 people.

In 1997, a magnitude 6 earthquake struck 50 miles north-northwest of this morning's, killing 11 and injuring more than 100. It destroyed around 80,000 homes in the Marche and Umbria regions.

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