Rescue teams in central Italy are searching for survivors of an earthquake that has devastated several towns and villages in a mountainous region
More than seventy people have been killed in the provinces of Umbria, Lazio and Marche
Quake hits at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76km (47 miles) south-east of the city of Perugia, at a shallow depth of 10km (six miles)
Quake epicentre is Norcia, near Perugia in mountainous central Italy but tremors felt in Rome
One hundred and fifty people are missing in the village of Accumoli alone
A survivor tells the AP news agency how she hid underneath her pillow as the quake struck.
"On one side the whole wall fell but did not hit me," Maria Gianni said.
"On the other side it fell as well and did not hit me, but fell just next to me, very very close to me, and luckily it didn't hit me. Then the whole ceiling fell on my head, I just managed to put a pillow on my head and I wasn't hit, luckily."
The Italian Rai website reports that in Pescara del Tronto people are digging to find two little girls. It is quoting rescue services as saying "There is no response under the rubble".
Rai says the parents have been pulled out alive.
It says the small town on the border betweem Lazio and Umbria is among the places most affected by the earthquake.
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Quakes are the ever present danger for those who live along the Apennine mountain range in Italy, the BBC's Jonathan Amos reports. Through the centuries thousands have died as a result of tremors equal to, or not much bigger than, the event that struck in the early hours of Wednesday. The modern response, thankfully, has been more robust building and better preparation. The context for Wednesday remains the same, however. On the big scale, Mediterranean seismicity is driven by the great collision between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates; but when it comes down to the specifics of this latest quake, the details are far more complicated.
The Tyrrhenian Basin, or Sea, which lies to the west of Italy, between the mainland and Sardinia/Corsica, is slowly opening up. Scientists say this is contributing to extension, or "pull-apart", along the Apennines, and gravity is pulling down on the highest regions. The combined result is a major fault system that runs the length of the Apennines with a series of smaller faults that fan off to the sides.
The mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, tells Rai, external (in Italian) that dozens of people have been killed.
"There are so many dead I cannot make an estimate," he says, "We have already extracted several dead bodies but we do not know how many there are below."
The Italian news agency Ansa says at least 21 people have been killed.
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BBC Radio 4
Eve Read is on holiday near Perugia - about 20km from the epicentre of the earthquake.
She told presenter John Humphrys about her panic as they were woken by their beds shaking.
Image source, APA clock is stopped at the time when the earthquake struck in Amatrice
The head of Italy's Department of Civil Protection, Fabrizio Curcio, tells a news conference in Rome that rescue services have not reached all affected areas yet.
"You have to know that the system is efficient and ready to act," he says.
"It's clear that there are difficulties in reaching some areas and we are trying to resolve those with the help of the Region of Lazio and the army."
Image source, ReutersThe aerial photo issued by the Italian firebrigade gives an idea of the level of destruction in Amatrice
Image source, APPeople are being pulled from the debris in Amatrice
Quote MessageWe had seven teenagers sleeping on the top floor, shouting 'get out of the house, get out of the house'. The electricity had gone, nobody could see anything. Some people grabbed their phones, we were able to make our way down the stairs into the garden. We all sat out there, sort of trying to make head or tail of what was going on and, after about 15 or 20 minutes, the mood was very much well let's all go back to bed, which turned out to be a mistake because we then all went back to bed only to then, you know after five or ten minutes a huge aftershock hit, which was even more terrifying.
Emma Tucker, Deputy Editor of the Times, on holiday in the region of Le Marche
Image source, ReutersA man is carried away after being rescued alive from the ruins following the earthquake in Amatrice
The US Geological Survey has given the orange alert, external for shaking-related fatalities. It says significant casualties are likely. It also has this map, showing the exposure the the shaking well beyond Rome:
Image source, US Geological SurveySeismologist Andrea Tertulliani says there are sure to be numerous further shocks that would likely diminish in intensity. "But it can't be ruled out that there could be another shock on the same scale as the main one," he says.
Quote Message"The bed started to almost jump up and down from one side of the room to another, light fixtures swinging from side to side. I got up and fell down immediately. We're about 80km east from the worst hit areas so there is not much damage here but it felt very strong. My mother is 90 and she woke up screaming and scared.
Silvana Hembrey, Visiting her mother in Castelfidardo
The hardest-hit towns are Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, some 80km (50 miles) north-east of Rome. The centre of Amatrice is reportedly devastated, with entire palazzos razed to the ground. The AP agency reports that now daylight has come, residents, civil protection workers and even priests have begun digging with shovels, bulldozers and their bare hands to reach survivors.
Image source, APA man is carried out on a stretcher from a collapsed building in Amatrice
Image source, APAn elderly man is given assistance as collapsed buildings are seen in the background following the earthquake in Amatrice
Image source, ReutersA bust is seen on the ground in Accumoli di Rieti, central Italy
The number of people killed in the quake rises to 13, Italian media reports say.
At least 10 people are now feared dead in the quake, according to officials cited by local media. But Italy's national civil protection agency said it could not give an official toll as rescue efforts are still under way.