Three earthquakes have struck Italy, shaking buildings in Rome and Florence just months after almost 300 people were killed in one of the worst disasters in living memory.
Residents of the capital described their homes and offices shaking when the first tremor struck at around 10.25am local time (9.25am BST).
The US Geological Survey (USGS) measured the initial quake at magnitude 5.3, placing the epicentre in Central Italy at a depth of six miles (10km).
It was followed 50 minutes later by a stronger 5.7 magnitude quake, which caused Rome's metro to be evacuated as a precaution, with some schools calling parents to pick up their children. Just 10 minutes later, a third earthquake measuring magnitude 5.3 hit.
Their epicentres were recorded at the same depth in Italy's seismically active central region, just miles from Amatrice, the town devastated in August's earthquake, which killed 234 of its residents.
The three significant earthquakes were accompanied by around 20 almost continuous tremors, including four over magnitude 4.
There was no immediate indication of deaths or severe damage, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.
Antonio Tajani, the Italian president of the European Parliament, said tremors were “felt as far as Rome (but it) appears there are no victims.”
The quakes were also felt in Lazio, Abruzzo and Marche, La Repubblica reported, being followed by four smaller aftershocks.
Small tremors have reportedly been felt in Rome for several weeks but Wednesday's was the biggest seismic event in several months.
It comes after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake killed at least 299 people in the country's central regions in August.
That was followed by at least two more deadly earthquakes in Umbria and Marche in October, both measuring over six on the Richter scale.
Reconstruction efforts continue in towns and villages left reduced to rubble by the disaster, which forced thousands of people to shelter in emergency camps.
Italy's Apennine mountains lie along an active fault line between the Adriatic and Eurasian plates, causing frequent seismic activity.
Seismologists say previous quakes have stressed the Laga Fault, which is rupturing.
