Hours after the tremors hit Ussita there were no reports of serious injuries or signs of people trapped in rubble, but “apocalyptic” damage had been caused to the town, the Guardian reports.

A handful of people were treated for slight injuries or anxiety in the most affected regions of Umbria and Le Marche, head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, said.

A 73-year-old man died of a heart attack, possibly brought on by the quakes, local authorities told the ANSA news agency.

The first quake struck at 7.10pm and could be felt across central Italy and as far south as Caserta.

The second, stronger quake, which measured 6.1 on the Richter scale, struck at 9.18pm and could be felt strongly in Rome.

The US Geological Survey placed the epicentre near Visso and said it had a depth of 10km.

Both were actually aftershocks to the earthquake on 24 August that struck a broad swath of central Italy.

Ussita’s mayor, Marco Rinaldi, said the town was “finished” and that the damage was “apocalyptic” in scale but that he was confident that there were no fatalities in the town, although the town’s church, the parish and other buildings suffered heavy damage.