Powerful earthquakes shake central Italy

The quakes were so strong that they caused buildings in distant Rome to shake, with office workers rushing out onto the streets, schools ordered to close and the metro temporarily suspended.

The first tremor, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, hit Montereale at about 10:25 a.m, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A second quake registering 5.7 magnitude hit the same area about 50 minutes later, and 10 minutes later a third was measured 5.3 on the Richter scale. Several hours later a 5.1 quake shook the same area.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said there was no immediate confirmation of any deaths. “Fortunately, there are no victims so far, but certainly this repetition of strong quakes is alarming for people who have already been so sorely tried.”

Three quakes in mountainous central Italy last year killed nearly 300 people in and around the medieval town of Amatrice and caused significant damage to older buildings. The tower of one of Amatrice's churches was toppled in today's quakes./.