A powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked central Italy some 76 kilometers southeast of the city of Perugia at 1:36 a.m GMT. Social media has been flooded with reports of strong tremors felt in the country’s capital, Rome.

The town of Norcia, home to some 5,000 residents, lies just 10km southeast of the quake’s epicenter, according to US Geological Survey (USGS). The ancient Italian city of Spoleto in the Perugia province with some 40,000 residents is located 35km east of the quake.

The earthquake hit 126km north of Rome, the largest and most populous city of the region with 2.6 million people.

The shaking appears to have woken up quite a few residents in central Italy. Besides Rome, aftershocks were also felt in Florence.

Jenny Parkinson, a Rome resident, wrote on Twitter the building she was inside “swayed for what seemed an age – bed rocking, lightshades swinging. Horrid!”

The tremors lasted for about 20-30 seconds, witnesses say.

People have reportedly run in panic into the streets in central Umbria and Le Marche regions, according to RAI radio, cited by AFP.

The Italian authorities are monitoring the situation and have been in contact with the Civil Protection Agency, the prime minister’s spokesman said on Twitter.

(RT)