Rescuers search for survivors after strong earthquake hits Italy - in pictures

• 

• 

  Rescuers carry a victim among damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Numerous buildings had collapsed in communities close to the epicentre of the quake near the town of Norcia in the region of Umbria. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Rescuers search for victims in damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Deaths were reported in three villages in a mountainous area straddling the regions of Lazio and Marche: Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  A resident carries a pram among damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Italy. The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome, where residents felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Rescuers clear debris while searching for victims in damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. The hardest-hit towns were Amatrice and Accumoli near Rieti, some 100 kilometres northeast of Rome, where the air was thick with dust and smelled strongly of gas. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Residents stand among damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. The center of Amatrice was devastated, with entire buildings razed. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Rescuers search for victims in damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Rocks and metal tumbled onto the streets and dazed residents huddled in piazzas as some 39 aftershocks continued into the early morning hours, some as strong as 5.1. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  A man looks at damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Central Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours, which has devastated dozens of mountain villages. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Resident search for victims in the rubble after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Deaths were reported in three villages in a mountainous area straddling the regions of Lazio and Marche: Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Rescuers search for victims in damaged buildings after a strong heartquake hit Amatrice. Filippo Monteforte / AFP

• 

  Rescuers search a crumbled building in Arcuata del Tronto, central Italy. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic centre felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Sandro Perozzi / AP

• 

  Rescuers work at a collapsed house following a quake in Amatrice, central Italy. Emiliano Grillotti / Reuters

A strong earthquake rocked central Italy early Wednesday, collapsing homes on top of residents as they slept. In two hard-hit towns, rescue crews raced to dig out survivors from the rubble, but the death toll was expected to rise as crews reached homes in harder-to-reach hamlets. Filippo Monteforte / AFP