A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 13 people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said.
"Half the town is gone," said the mayor of Amatrice, one of the worst areas affected.
The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, at a shallow depth of 10km, BBC reports.
Officials warned the number of fatalities was likely to rise. The head of the civil protection department compared the earthquake's intensity to Aquila in April 2009 in which 309 people died.
Some of the worst damage was in the town of Amatrice, where several people died and rescue efforts were under way to find survivors.
"The roads in and out of town are cut off. Half the town is gone. There are people under the rubble. There's been a landslide and a bridge might collapse," mayor Sergio Perozzi told RAI radio.
The main street through the town has been devastated and emergency workers are trying to reach six people in a collapsed building.
Meanwhile police said two people had died in the village of Pescara del Tronto.
