AQUILA -- Four strong earthquake tremors ripped through central Italy Wednesday at 10:25, 11:14, 11:26 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., measuring between magnitudes 5.1 and 5.5, the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said.

 The tremors' epicentre was in the Montereale zone in the province of Aquila at a depth of nine km, but was felt around Lazio, Abruzzo, the Marche region. Tremors were also felt strongly in Rome, where many metro stations were closed for two hours and various schools were evacuated as a precautionary measure following the second tremor.

 Many people ran out into the snow to escape the village where the epicentre is. Three farmers are now missing in the Arquata del Tronto zone -- they are not answering their phones. The searches are made very difficult by the heavy layers of snow, which are about two metres high in many places.

 The earth movement happened 28 km south-west of Ascoli Piceno, 36 km north of Aquila and 111 km north-east of Rome.

 Other communes nearby, within 10 km of the epicentre, are Capitignano, Campotosto, Amatrice and Cagnano Amiterno.

 In the already earthquake-wrecked zones like Amatrice and Accumoli, further damages to buildings have been confirmed. What remained of Amatrice’s Sant’Agostino Church bell tower collapsed, and the cornice of Amatrice’s Alberghiera School gave way after the quake.

 In the commune of Montereale, the epicentre of the quakes, an inhabitant recounted the situation -- “There were three very violent tremors, comparable to those of the Aquila and Amatrice earthquakes. For months we have been persecuted by these tremors, which are never-ending. We want to be in a safe place, we do not know what could happen at any time. But we are blocked by the snow.”

 Firefighters are carrying out further checks in Amatrice and Accumoli, made very difficult by the huge amounts of snow in the regions.

 The students of many schools around Rieti were evacuated as a precautionary measure, as detailed in the safety plans.

 The Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, on hearing the news, immediately contacted the head of the Civil Protection Service Fabrizio Curcio who is following the situation directly.

 Gentiloni has now asked the Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti to send military reinforcements to the areas hit by the quake.

 "The emergency is not the earthquake or the damages to the red alert zone, but the snow. We urgently need turbines, the snowploughs are not enough. We have isolated hamlets with two metres of snow," said the mayor of Amatrice Servio Pirozzi, in a call for aid.

 The province of Teramo is in crisis -- zones have been isolated by the snow, villages without electricity for 48 hours, and requests for the army’s corps of engineers to be sent over.

 The association of Sappe policemen denounced a situation of “total paralysis” in the Castrogno prison, linked to the bad weather and the quakes, with a lack of electricity leaving inmates and staff freezing cold and unable to prepare meals, and the fear that unruly conditions could break out.

 People all over are trying to dig through the snow to escape due to the fear of further tremors. “We are on the streets, submerged by snow and we cannot even manage to escape. The cars cannot move because of the snow. The tremors keep coming and people are screaming on the streets,” said Serena Testa, an inhabitant of Marruci, a hamlet of Pizzoli in the Aquila province very close to the epicentre of the quakes.

 The toppling of the Belltower of St. Augustine, a result of today's quakes, represents a cultural loss to Amatrice.

 "We're talking about a fifteenth century structure. The facade of the church was built with sandstone typical of the area,” said Roberto Di Filippo, Environmental Guide, “and was then modified under Renaissance standards. The entrance portal was Romanesque style with a marble arch. The bell tower was at least 34 meters high. It is such a blow because we were before a true architectural gem. It was a true landmark.”

 “Each tremor worsens the conditions of our fellow itiens but also increases the determination to be close to them and help them,” said Italian President Sergio Mattarella, speaking to journalists in Athens. He added that despite the new quakes, the reconstruction process “will still go on.”

 nkd