Quake strikes mountainous central Italy

Rome: A magnitude 4.0 earthquake rattled central Italy early on Monday, Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology reported.

The quake struck at a depth of 11 km and its epicentre was near the village of Montereale in the Abruzzo region's province of L'Aquila, the institute said.

The northern Lazio town of Amatrice was among 14 towns and villages within the area of the quake's epicentre according to the institute.

Amatrice was one of several hillside towns that were flattened by a major 6.0-magnitude temblor that struck central Italy in August last year, killing 300 people.