A magnitude 4.0 earthquake rattled central Italy early on Monday, Italy's national institute of geophysics and vulcanology reported.
The quake struck at 4.13 at a depth of 11 kilometres 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 on 24 August last year, killing 300 people.
Since then, several powerful quakes have rocked the region, leaving thousands of people homeless and further damaging buildings including medieval churches and monuments.
The earthquakes over the past six monts have cost the state more than 23 billion euros, Italy's civil protection agency said last week.
