THE Metro and some schools have been evacuated after a number of earthquakes struck central Italy near the capital Rome.
The first hit at around 10:25am local time with its epicentre pinpointed to just 69 miles North East of the historic city, just ten miles from Maltignano at a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale.
There are currently no reports of deaths or serious damage being sustained but the Metro has been evacuated as a result of the tremors.
Residents of the Italian capital described their homes and offices shaking as the tremor struck.
Small seismic events have been felt in the ancient city for several weeks but today’s was the largest in months.