Four strong earthquakes have struck a part of Italy which has been hit by snow, with people in Rome saying also they felt the tremors.

The first quake at around 10.30am local time on Wednesday measured a magnitude of 5.4 and hit the L'Aquila region, northeast of Rome, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

A second quake with a magnitude of 5.7 hit the same area about 50 minutes later, and 10 minutes later a third was measured at a magnitude of 5.3.

Several hours later, another 5.1-magnitude quake also struck.

The shaking was felt in Rome, about 100km (60 miles) away, and the metro was evacuated, rail services suspended and schools in the capital closed.


Image: Rome's metro was evacuated following the quakes

Emergency services deployed helicopters to check the impact of the quakes and the national civil protection agency was assessing the damage in villages closest to the epicentre.

All occurred just a few miles away from a series of devastating quakes that hit the Amatrice area in August and again in October that between them killed hundreds of people.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said it appeared no one was killed in the latest quakes, but it had been was a "difficult day" for Italy.

The latest tremors follow 36 hours of continuous snowfall in areas close to Amatrice and another badly-hit mountain town, Norcia.

Snow blankets the town of Amatrice, Italy

The shaking only made matters worse for those living in the region, knocking out some mobile phone services, hampering emergency response and sending quake-weary citizens into panic.

The mayor of Canzano, Franco Campitelli, told Sky Italia: "It's snowing hard. We're without electricity. We hope the army gets here soon with snow plows or we risk being completely isolated."

A hotel worker in the town of Capitagno, Giuseppe Di Felice, told state-run RAI radio people were unable to get out of their homes.

"It's apocalyptic," he said.

Image: An earthquake struck Amatrice last August

As a result of last year's quakes many residents have been living in temporary accommodation outside the earthquake-prone zone along Italy's mountainous spine.

Italy straddles the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, making it vulnerable to seismic activity when they move.