A strong earthquake hit northeastern Italy this morning, killing at least 15 people.
Italy's Civil Protection Authority confirmed 15 people had died and rescue forces were searching for four or five other people still missing after a series of strong quakes.
Authorities said the region was struck between 11.56am and 12.01pm Irish time by three tremors of between 5.1 and over 5.3 magnitude, following a 5.8 magnitude quake just after 8am.
The first quake struck about 60km east of Parma, according to the Geographical Institute of Modena.
Today's quakes followed a 6.0 magnitude quake in the industrial northeast on 20 May which killed six people and left thousands in makeshift tent dwellings, with many homes and historic buildings reduced to rubble.
"Everything's collapsed, it's chaos, buildings across the town are down," a fireman in the tiny town of Cavezzo told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
"Everything was shaking, we ran out into the streets. The roads are now blocked by people trying to flee the centre in case there's an aftershock," Corriere della Sera reporter Elvira Serra said from the small town of Cento.
Historic chapels, churches and buildings damaged in the first quake crumbled to the ground as panicked citizens joined those already camping out in blue tent camps set up in parks and school playgrounds after the last quake.
Over 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes and emergency places for 4,000 homeless would be ready by nightfall, the Emilia Romagna region said.
Several victims were workers crushed when factories collapsed, while a parish priest in the town of Rovereto di Novi was killed by a falling beam, reportedly after he went back into his church to save a Madonna statue.
In San Felice del Panaro, the dead were identified as Italian, Moroccan and Indian factory workers. "I don't think we are safe, the factory has completely collapsed," another Indian worker said.
Prime Minister Mario Monti said: "I want to assure everyone that the state will do all that it must do, all that is possible to do, as fast as it can to guarantee the return to normality in a region so special, so important, so productive for Italy."
Officials said operations to rescue people from the rubble after this morning's tremor had been hampered by disruption to the mobile phone network.
Train services around Bologna, near Modena, were disrupted, media said, and schools and other public buildings had been evacuated as far south as Florence.
The earthquake was also felt in Montecatini in Tuscany where the Irish football team is training in advance of Euro 2012.
A 3.8 magnitude earthquake was also felt through western Bulgaria, causing no casualties or serious damage, the National Geophysical Institute said.
The tremor had its epicentre near the town of Pernik, shaking buildings and causing residents to rush into the streets.
A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Bulgaria last week, centred about 25km west of the capital Sofia.
