Head of the Civil Protection Department in the central Marche region, Cesare Spuri has confirmed that between 2000 and 3000 people have been left homeless in the wake of the tremors.
Many of the people made homeless by the quakes had to sleep in their cars in the bitter cold and torrential rain.
Civil Protection Chief Fabrizio Curcio has stated that those unable to access their homes may be temporarily relocated to coastal areas.
"We are trying to find the ideal solution for the people, who cannot be hosted at tent camps, given the weather and the season," Mr Curcio said.
Mr Curcio spoke while inspecting the newly affected zone with Vasco Errani, the commissioner for the reconstruction of areas devastated by the August 24 earthquake.
The first magnitude 5.4 quake struck at 7:10 pm Italian time and was followed by a magnitude 5.9 tremor 9:18 pm.
The fact that many people left their homes following the first tremor and had moved to a safer area by the time the second one struck, may have saved lives.
A 73-year-old man died of a heart attack thought to be linked to the quakes and several people suffered minor injuries.
Though there has been significant damage to the infrasrtucture of many towns, there have been no reports of people buried under the rubble.
National Institute of Geophysics (INGV) has confirmed that here have been at least 200 aftershocks following the two major tremors.
"There were 105 registered after 2:00 am [on Thursday] alone," INGV seismologist, Alessandro Amato told ANSA.
"Overall, there were 30 aftershocks of magnitude 3.0 or higher."
Four were above magnitude 4.0, all in the area of Macerata, including a magnitude 4.4 tremor near Castelsantangelo sul Nera.
With ANSA
