The toll continues to rise.

The earthquake struck at 3:36 am local time, devastating a number of communities in the regions of Lazio, Umbria and Le Marche.

The Civil Protection Department has confirmed the deaths of 106 people in Rieti (Lazio) and a further 53 in Ascoli Piceno (Le Marche) following the disaster.

Thousands of residents have been displaced, including 1500 people in Le Marche alone, as rescuers continue to dig through the rubble and debris.

The first violent quake hit the towns of Amatrice, Accumoli (Rieti) and Arquata del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno), while a second magnitude 5.4 aftershock followed at 4:33 am, with the area between Norcia (Perugia) and Castelsantangelo sul Nera (Macerata) being placed at the epicentre.

A third magnitude 4.9  tremor struck in the early afternoon, sparking further panic.

As the earth continued to shake as late as yesterday evening in some locations across Le Marche the quakes were felt kilometres away in Rome, and as far south as Naples.

Rescue operations have been assisted by individuals spanning the entire nation.

There are currently 700 firefighters working in the affected area.

The True Impact Felt

Among the casualties are many children.

The community of Amatrice mourns the tragic loss of seven-year-old twins, Simone and Andrea Serafini.

Another 11-year-old boy was found dead in Amatrice after pleading for help from under the debris.

Meanwhile, in Arquata del Tronto, two siblings aged four and six-years-old, have been saved after their grandmother hid them under a bed as the disaster unfolded.

A 43-year-old Roman man has been pulled from the rubble in Accumoli, after his legs and part of his body were buried for several hours under the ruins.

During a press conference in Rome, Premier Matteo Renzi has declared that he “will leave no one on their own – not one family, one town or one village”.

"Italy mourns its fellow nationals and displays its tears but also the generous hearts of its volunteers, its civil protection and its institutions for all the world to see,” Renzi said before heading to the stricken areas in the Apennine mountains of Lazio and Le Marche.

Authorities fear the fate of the cultural heritage of the devastated regions.

The famous Hotel Roma in the historical town of Rieti, which housed 70 people, has collapsed in the disaster, and so far two bodies have been pulled from the ruins.

Small cracks have begun to show in the façade of the Cathedral of Urbino, which has since been cordoned off.

The Monastery of Saint Clare in Camerino has crumbled, along with the Basilica of Saint Francis and the Church of Sant’Agostino in Amatrice. 

Pope Francis has expressed “great pain” in the wake of the tragedy, speaking in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, where 11,000 faithful gathered for a customary general hearing.

"I cannot but express my great pain and say that I am with the people present in all the places stricken by the seism, to all those who have lost loved ones and those who still feel shaken by fear," Pope Francis said.

With ANSA