Major seismic tremor in Italy, felt in Rome
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck central Italy early Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake -- which was felt in Rome -- struck at 0640 GMT six kilometres north of the small town of Norcia, four days after quakes of 5.5 and 6.1 magnitude hit central Italy.
On Friday, Italy's major risks commission cautioned that there may be more powerful earthquakes to come following Wednesday's two in the country's mountainous centre and a deadly one in August.
"There is no current evidence that the (seismic) sequence underway is coming to an end," it warned.
The National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks (CGR) said that in the wake of the August 24 quake that killed nearly 300 people it had identified three areas at risk for further seismic activity.
Wednesday's quakes "activated one of the areas identified by the commission, to the north of the August quake, while the other two did not move," it said.
- AFP