An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook Italy's central Umbria and Marche regions yesterday, hitting the same area as an equally-strong quake last week and a string of powerful tremors last year.
People in the region, many left homeless from last year's quakes, ran out of homes and workplaces, and schools were evacuated when the quake struck in the morning. It was sharp enough to rattle windows in Rome, 150km south of the epicentre.
Officials said some buildings suffered minor damage, but no injuries were reported.
Two quakes measuring 5.5 and 5.6 on the Richter scale last September killed 11 people, destroyed thousands of homes and damaged several mediaeval buildings and art treasures.
"I was in a shop, and suddenly the plates began moving back and forth. It was very, very strong, and everybody ran into the streets in complete panic," said Mr Fausto Berretta, who was visiting the town of Assisi.
An official at Rome's civil protection agency, which provides assistance to people affected by natural disasters, said the epicentre of Friday's quake was Gualdo Tadino and Nocera Umbra, "the same as last week".
"The tremor was linked to last September's earthquake," the agency said. Eight smaller tremors followed the big quake which caused most damage to the region.
Seismologists in Perugia, the Umbrian capital, said the quake occurred 8km underground. Last week's tremor was estimated at a depth of about 45km, and September's powerful quake was 5km deep.
"It was definitely stronger than last week's. . . It was huge like the one in September," said Mr Benedetto Agretti, owner of the Hotel Europa in Nocera Umbra.
Nocera Umbra was one of the worst-hit towns in last September's quakes. Mr Agretti, like others, was forced to shut his hotel down as tourism in the region dissipated.
"It's desperate, it's tragic because, out of 7,000 inhabitants, 6,500 are living in containers [temporary shelters]. Ninety per cent of the town is destroyed." said Mr Agretti. "We're in the hands of God".
About 300 homes in the two towns at the epicentre had some damage and were declared unsafe. The mayor of Gualdo Tadino appealed for caravans and prefabs to house the new homeless.
"The damage is like that from the September 26th earthquake," said Mr Rolando Pinacoli. The town's hospital suffered some damage, and patients were transferred elsewhere.
Friday's quake caused slight damage to the main church in Gualdo Tadino and to the castle of St Ercolano, near the town of Foligno.
"Buildings that were already damaged were further damaged," the civil protection agency said in a statement. It said schools were shut and factory workers had been told to leave their posts. Frightened schoolchildren darted under their desks in Foligno.
Witnesses said a few more slight tremors hit, minutes after the first quake. Last September's tremors brought down part of the vaulted ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, sending frescoes painted by Cimabue crashing to the ground.
Experts are currently trying to piece the hundreds of mediaeval fragments together.
Four of the 11 dead included two Franciscan friars, who were killed when a second shock caused the basilica ceiling to collapse. There was no reported damage at the basilica after Friday's quake.
"The quake was very, very strong, but we have checked and everything is all right," a priest at the basilica said.