Local residents have been speaking of their shock at the scale of Wednesday's earthquake. 

Silvano Parla, from the town of Arquata del Tronto, said earthquakes were felt regularly in the area, but added: "I have lived through many earthquakes in the years - every seven to eight years there is an earthquake here. But one like this one, never. It was long and ugly."

Amatrice is one of the worst-hit towns. Before members of the media were told to evacuate, BBC Radio 5 live journalist Lucy Grey tweeted a number of images showing the destruction there.

The BBC's Julian Miglierini meanwhile came across a photo album in crumbled home.

The BBC's Jenny Hill, who is in the earthquake-hit town of Amatrice, says members of the press and onlookers have been asked to urgently evacuate a rescue scene. 

Rescuers told them "the town is crumbling" and "alarms had gone off". They were instructed to leave the area immediately.

Our correspondent says fresh cracks have also been seen in the town's hospital, mainly down to powerful aftershocks.

Image source, Reuters

Italy's ministry of cultural heritage and activities and tourism (MiBACT) has announced, external that all proceeds from public museums across Italy this Sunday will be dedicated to helping the areas affected by the earthquake. 

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini urged Italians to visit the museums and the country's many archaelogical sites "in a concrete sign of solidarity" with the victims of the disaster. 

Several churches and other medieval buildings were badly damaged or destroyed on Wednesday.

Image source, AFP

Drone footage taken above Pescara del Tronto, one of the villages in central Italy hit by Wednesday's earthquake, has revealed the complete devastation there. 

Please note: There is no sound on this video.

Italian authorities have set up emergency tented camps for survivors of Wednesday's earthquake in the town of Amatrice. Others slept in their cars or at the homes of families in nearby areas that were unaffected.

A woman called Monica told the AGI news agency: "What have we got to lose now? We have lost our house. So many friends and family are dead. We have lost everything, even our fear."

Image source, EPA

Image source, AP

Image source, AP

Spain's foreign ministry is reported to have confirmed that at least one Spaniard has died as a result of the earthquake. The Associated Press said the ministry could not give any further details regarding the victim.

Image source, Reuters

The head of the Italian Civil Protection's emergency department, Immacolata Postiglione, told a news conference earlier that thousands of volunteers, soldiers, police officers and firefighters were involved in the search and rescue efforts.

"Going into detail, around 1,000 men and women from our police forces are involved. And more than 1,000, actually 1,060, firefighters," she said.

"We need to mention that we also have 400 people from the armed forces, and more than 3,000 others from different organisations, all the national volunteering organisations... plus all the local associations from the three affected regions."

Romania's foreign ministry has said two Romanians have died and eight are missing after the earthquake in Italy, the Associated Press reports.

Ministry spokesman Ionut Valcu is quoted as saying that four Romanians were being treated for injuries in hospitals He did not identify any of the casualties.

Reports suggest about 8,000 Romanians live in the area in central Italy where the earthquake struck on Wednesday.

Aerial photos have been released showing the destruction in the hilltop village of Pescara del Tronto.

Firefighter Franco Mantovan told the Associated Press early on Thursday that crews knew of three residents still trapped under the rubble there.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

The BBC's Jenny Hill is watching rescue efforts in Amatrice.

Firefighters are clambering onto rubble at one location and asking crowds to fall silent to allow crews to listen for signs of life below. A faint knocking sound was heard last night. 

"This is just such a delicate situation for them," she says. "There is a sense that perhaps a miracle can happen."

Our correspondent says such scenes are being replicated at 19 other sites across the town.

The BBC's Jenny Hill is in Amatrice, one of the worst affected towns

BBC Breakfast

Dean Nankivell of UK International Search & Rescue says rescuers are facing a race against time to save people from the rubble.

The organisation sends teams to disaster zones around the world and has helped following earthquakes in Nepal and Haiti. 

"The body's miraculous," Mr Nankivell told BBC Breakfas. "You know the first 24 to 48 hours are the crucial times, that's when we go and get the easy rescues."

"Then the second phase would be the more protracted incident, the more deeply buried casualties.

"But seven days is our window, that's our window of opportunity, from the minute of the earthquake we have roughly a seven day window of opportunity, that can extend to 10."

Image source, AFP

One site where rescuers have focused is the collapsed Hotel Roma, in Amatrice.

Amatrice's mayor initially said about 70 people had been staying at the hotel ahead of a festival this weekend. However, its owner said most had managed to escape. 

Just before dawn one body was pulled out of the rubble, fire service spokesman Luca Cari told the Associated Press.

These before-and-after photographs show the level of devastation in areas hit by the earthquake.

The epicentre was near Norcia, a town popular with foreign tourists, but most of the deaths have been recorded in the nearby towns of Accumoli and Amatrice, and the village of Pescara del Tronto.

Italian earthquake: Before and after

Image source, Google/AP

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Warner Marzocchi, chief scientist at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was concerned there could be another earthquake in the region.

Earthquakes tended to occur in clusters, he explained, adding: "This means that after a large earthquake like this one, it is more likely to have other large earthquake - not very far from it.

"So, this is probably the worst moment in the sense that we are not able to say that for sure we will have another big earthquake."

At about 05:40 (03:40 GMT) on Thursday, rescue teams and survivors in the devastated areas were shaken by a powerful aftershock. 

The US Geological Survey put its magnitude at 4.7 and said the epicentre was about 7km (4 miles) east of Norcia, at a depth of 10km (6 miles). Norcia was the epicentre of Wednesday morning's earthquake.

Several children have been rescued from the rubble of buildings destroyed by the earthquake.

In Pescara del Tronto, a 10-year-old girl was pulled from a crumbled home on Wednesday evening - prompting cheers from firefighters.

Barbara Contini, from the Red Cross, is helping to co-ordinate the response. She told the BBC that efforts were being made to help people who had been left homeless. 

"We are engaged through the two nights that passed now, and our staff and our volunteers didn't go to sleep at all since the beginning. And we are close to the people and we are there from the last moment, ready to do anything for them," she said. 

Image source, AP

The secretary-general of the Italian Red Cross, Flavio Ronzi, has told the BBC there is still a chance of finding people alive. 

"We are still finding some survivors because there is still some time, we can still find someone alive but of course hour by hour it's going to be more difficult and with less possibilities."

Image source, Getty Images