The National Institute of Geophysics (INGV) has confirmed that the quake struck the Val Nerina valley between Perugia and Macerata. The nearest community is the tiny village of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, whose mayor told reporters that buildings have collapsed and the power is out.
"We don't have any reported victims but we're in the dark and under a downpour," Mayor Mauro Falcucci said.
"We're waiting for the Civil Protection Department to bring us lighting towers."
The village in the Marche region lies around 90 kilometres from Ancona and around 50 kilometres from Macerata, and was hard-hit by the devastating August 24 quake which claimed 298 lives.
In the town of Visso in Macerata, people poured out onto the central square in panic and tears when the tremor struck.
"The walls fell in on me," said a woman surveyor who fled from her office in central Visso.
"All of the objects and books fell off the shelves. I ran down the stairs and outside it was all dust and people were screaming."
Marche civil protection chief Cesare Spuri has stated that authorities will shut down the Salaria road at the height of the village of Arquata del Tronto, which was devastated by the August 24 quake.
The recent tremor spanned the Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria regions as well as the central Marche region, and was felt in the cities of Ascoli, Ancona, Arezzo, Assisi, Fabriano, L'Aquila, Perugia, Pesaro, Pescara, Rieti, and Rome, where the Italian foreign ministry building was evacuated.
Rescue teams are on their way to isolated villages near the epicentre of the quake.
With ANSA
