Slight earthquake rattles Rome awake, no damage known yet

ROME – A slight earthquake rattled Romans awake early Monday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The Italian geological institute gave the temblor a preliminary magnitude of 3.3. It said it struck at 5:03 a.m. with an epicenter in Fonte Nuova, a small town northeast of the capital in the province of Rome. Its depth was 11 kilometres (6 miles).

It came as Italy, once the European epicenter of COVID-19, is emerging from a two-month coronavirus lockdown.

Italy is frequently hit by earthquakes, with the last major ones striking central Italy starting in 2016 that claimed hundreds of lives and levelled towns.