A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 13 people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said.

“Half the town is gone,” said the mayor of Amatrice, one of the worst areas affected.

A family of four were feared dead in the rubble of their house in the nearby town of Accumoli.

The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, at a shallow depth of 10km.

Some buildings in the capital shook for 20 seconds.

Officials warned the number of fatalities was likely to rise. The head of the civil protection department compared the earthquake’s intensity to Aquila in April 2009 in which 309 people died.

• Read here for latest updates
• History of deadly earthquakes
• Why Italy is hit by earthquakes
• Can quakes be predicted?

Some of the worst damage was in the town of Amatrice, where several people died and rescue efforts were under way to find survivors.

“The roads in and out of town are cut off. Half the town is gone. There are people under the rubble. There’s been a landslide and a bridge might collapse,” mayor Sergio Perozzi told RAI radio.

The main street through the town has been devastated and emergency workers are trying to reach six people in a collapsed building.

In Accumoli, a short distance to the north, the mayor said six people had died.

“One person was pulled out of the rubble during the night,” said Stefano Petrucci.

“Then there is a family of four under a collapsed house and sadly there are two small children among them.”

Meanwhile police said two people had died in the village of Pescara del Tronto.

Seismologist Andrea Tertulliani said there were sure to be further, numerous shocks that would probably diminish in intensity.

“But it can’t be ruled out that there could be another shock on the same scale as the main one,” he said.

Italy’s Civil Protection agency described the earthquake as “severe”.

“It was so strong. It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it,” Lina Mercantini of Ceselli, Umbria, told Reuters.

Rescue teams are being sent to the worst-hit areas, the prime minister’s office said.

Why is Italy at risk of earthquakes? By Jonathan Amos

Quakes are an ever-present danger for those who live along the Apennine mountain range in Italy.

Through the centuries thousands have died as a result of tremors equal to, or not much bigger than, the event that struck in the early hours of Wednesday. The modern response, thankfully, has been more robust building and better preparation.

Mediterranean seismicity is driven by the great collision between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates; but when it comes down to the specifics of this latest quake, the details are far more complicated.

The Tyrrhenian Basin, or Sea, which lies to the west of Italy, between the mainland and Sardinia/Corsica, is slowly opening up.

Scientists say this is contributing to extension, or “pull-apart”, along the Apennines. This stress is compounded by movement in the east, in the Adriatic, where the crust is pushing in and under Italy.

The result is a major fault system that runs the length of the mountain range with a series of smaller faults that fan off to the sides. The foundations of cities like Perugia and L’Aquila stand on top of it all.

The quake was initially reported as being magnitude 6.4. It was followed by several powerful aftershocks, La Repubblica newspaper reported.

The deputy editor of the British newspaper, The Times, who was in the area at the time, told the BBC that the quake lasted about 20 seconds followed by an aftershock about 20 minutes later which was easily as strong.

“It was pitch dark, very cold. Nobody in our group had a clue what to do in an earthquake,” Emma Tucker said.

The USGS predicted the damage could be significant, based on data from previous quakes.

It said the quake struck near the Umbrian city of Norcia, whose picturesque historic centre is a popular tourist site.

However Norcia Mayor Nicola Alemanno said no deaths have been reported there.

“The anti-seismic structures of the town have held,” he said. “There is damage to the historic heritage and buildings, but we do not have any serious injuries.”

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the Aquila region, which was also felt in the Italian capital, left more than 300 dead.

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