A strong earthquake measuring about 5.2 on the Richter scale rocked northern Italy from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic seas on early today, causing panic and some damage.
There were no reports of serious injuries in the quake, which was felt from Genoa in the west to Venice in the east and as far north as the border with France at Mount Blanc.
Civil protection officials in Rome said it was centred in the province of Brescia and there were initial reports of some damage to older buildings in towns along Lake Garda.
The epicentre of the quake, which hit a few seconds before midnight, was near the towns of Treviso Bresciano, Tuscolano Maderno and Gardone Riviera in Brescia province, they said.
At least four people suffered minor injuries, according to initial reports. Cracks appeared in some buildings in Gardone Riviera as well as in the towns of San Felice del Benaco and Preseglie. A few abandoned farmhouses were reported to have collapsed.
In Salo and other towns on the shores of Lake Garda, people rushed out onto the streets and fire brigades were checking the stability of the buildings. Several area hospitals were evacuated as a precaution.
Italy is very prone to earthquakes although they are more rare in the north than in the centre and south. Italy's last major quake was in 2002 when a school in the southern town of San Giuliano di Puglia collapsed, killing some 30 people, nearly all of them children trapped in a school.
The last major quake to hit northern Italy struck in 1976 in the Friuli region near the border with Slovenia. It killed 976 people and left 70,000 others homeless.
One of the country's worst earthquakes hit southern Italy 24 years ago on November 23rd, 1980, killing some 3,000 people.