At least 20 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, Italian officials say.

Five children are said to be among the dead and at least 30 people remain unaccounted for as a massive search for the trapped is under way.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck in the early hours close to the medieval city of L'Aquila, 95km (60 miles) from Rome.

A civil protection official told the BBC that 3,000 to 10,000 buildings in the city may have been damaged.

Agostino Miozzo said that thousands of people could have been made homeless.

Earlier, the mayor of L'Aquila, Massimo Cialente, said some 100,000 people had left their homes.

A university dormitory, churches and a bell tower are believed to be among the buildings that had collapsed.

TV footage showed residents and rescuers working through the debris from collapsed buildings, and bloodied residents being taken to hospital.

Aftershocks

The earthquake happened at 0332 (0132 GMT), hours after a 4.6-magnitude tremor shook the area but caused no reported damage.

Thousands of the city's 70,000 residents ran into the streets in panic during the 30 second tremor.

A student dormitory was said to be one of the buildings badly damaged. It was not clear if anyone remained trapped inside.

One student told Rai state TV that he managed to escape the building before the roof collapsed.

Public safety chief Guido Bertolaso warned of "numerous victims, many injured and so many collapsed homes" as he travelled to the scene, Ansa news agency reported.

Correspondents say that L'Aquila, capital of the mountainous Abruzzo region, has many old buildings not built to withstand a strong earthquake.

Even some modern structures on the outskirts of the city were reported to have collapsed.

The earthquake was also felt in Rome, where the BBC correspondent said he was woken up by the shaking.

Powerful earthquakes are relatively rare in Italy. In 2002, an earthquake in the southern Italian town of San Giuliano di Puglia killed more than 20 people.

In 1997, 13 people died when a strong earthquake struck Italy's central region.



Source: BBC