Metro stations in Rome were evacuated earlier yesterday when three strong earthquakes were felt in the city.
The quakes, which reached a magnitude of 5.7, were also felt in Abruzzo and Marche in central Italy.
The earthquakes are believed to have caused an avalanche which has hit a hotel close to the Gran Sasso mountain in the Abruzzo region.
They came just months after almost 300 people were killed in another earthquake in central Italy,
The Foreign Office said some metro stations in Rome were closed as a precautionary measure. "You should follow local advice," it added.
The president of the Marche region has described the three earthquakes as a catastrophe for the area, which, combined with recent heavy snowfalls, have caused landslides. Thousands of homes have been left without power.
Luca Ceriscioli said a number of villages had been isolated by the earthquakes, the first of which struck at 10.15am and the third at 11.25am.
Marche was also badly affected by the earthquake in August last year, which killed 298 people, 46 of them in the region.
