Flash: Strong earthquake hits Italy, 50 miles NE of Rome

Pray for those in Italy:

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale rocked central Italy on Monday, seriously damaging some houses and causing a few structures to collapse in a mountainous region east of Rome, officials said.

A number of people were reported to have been injured and others trapped under rubble in the area where the city of l'Aquila is situated, but officials had few details on the situation.

The quake struck at about 3.35 a.m. (0135 GMT) and was centered in the mountainous Abruzzo region east of Rome. (Reuters)

SkyNews has video.