The death toll from a devastating earthquake that hit and flattened central Italian towns has soared to more than 240 as rescuers desperately searched through the night for survivors under the ruins of collapsed buildings.
With 368 people injured, some critically, and an unknown number still trapped in mountains of rubble on Thursday morning, the toll was expected to rise further.
Wednesday's pre-dawn earthquake razed homes and buckled roads in a cluster of mountain communities 140km east of Italy's capital, Rome. It was powerful enough to be felt in Bologna to the north and Naples to the south, each more than 200km from the epicentre.
The US Geological Survey said it was a 6.2 magnitude quake that hit near the town of Norcia, in the region of Umbria.
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