Initial reports on the magnitude of the tremors varied – while  USGS and Italian media first talked of a 7.1 earthquake, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said the tremor was magnitude 6.5 or 6.6.

Italy Civil Protection reports buildings collapsing in a number of locations following the tremors. They did not provide any information regarding casualties.

The USGS says the quake was centered 6 km (3.7 miles) north of Norcia, a town in the province of Perugia. The epicenter lay some 10 kilometers deep.

Norcia is home to some 5,000 people, at least two buildings collapsed there - the Basilica di San Benedetto and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea.

Local media also reported destruction at the Church of Saint Augustine in Amatrice, which lost its bell tower.

According to the mayor of Ussita, a commune in the Marche district with around 450 inhabitants, 90 percent of the buildings in the area were brought down by the quake.

Emergency services across the region are currently checking the destroyed buildings for casualties, civil protection authorities said, Guardian reported.

212