San Felice Sul Panaro (Italy), May 30: A woman has been pulled from the rubble of her apartment alive, 12 hours after a killer earthquake hit northern Italy killing at least 17 people.
Firefighters say the woman yelled out to rescuers as they were about to reach her this morning in the rubble of her kitchen.
She'd gone into the building, which had already been damaged in the region's other fatal May 20 quake, to retrieve some clothes, when the 5.8 magnitude tremor struck, causing the building to collapse.
Authorities have revised-down the death toll to 16, and say the number of injured has risen to 350.
Rescue workers sifting through the rubble of Italy's latest deadly quake have found the bodies of two workers in a collapsed factory, raising the death toll to at least 17.
The rescuers in the northern town of Mendolla say two lifeless bodies have yet to be recovered.
Some 200 people were injured and thousands left homeless in Italy's second fatal quake in nine days, in the agricultural and industrial area north of Bologna.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake, which struck at 9am local time (3pm yesterday AEST), was centred 40km northwest of the city of Bologna.
It caused factories, houses and historic churches to collapse and rattled buildings as far away as Milan and Venice.
Many local people were already living in temporary shelter following a 6.0-magnitude quake in the area on May 20 that killed seven people and injured 50.
The epicentre of the quake was close to Modena, a city of 170,000.
A strong aftershock measuring 5.6-magnitude hit the area at 12:55pm local time, the US Geological Survey said.
The tremor, at a depth of 9.9km, shook for nearly 30 seconds, the ANSA news agency reported.
At least 15 people were killed in the quake, and rescue operations were underway to extract trapped people from rubble, Sky Italia's TG24 reported.
Hundreds were feared injured, and as many as 6000 people would require emergency shelter, authorities said.
Among the fatalities, three people were killed when buildings collapsed in San Felice sul Panaro, near Modena, the Gazzetta di Modena newspaper reported.
The mayor of the town, Alberto Silvestri, told Sky Italia's TG24 that he feared the toll could rise.
"Unfortunately, there are victims. There are people under the rubble. I cannot tell you anything more. The situation is very serious," he said.
In nearby Mirandola, three workers were killed at an industrial building when it collapsed. A rescue operation was underway.
A priest was killed in Rovereto, near Novi di Modena, when a beam in his church collapsed and crushed him, the Gazzetta di Modena reported.
A number of ancient buildings collapsed in Modena, including churches. There were reports of flattened buildings in several locations near the epicenter.
The earthquake was felt across northern Italy, and a number of buildings were evacuated in the country's second city, Milan, TG24 reported.
''A new quake has hit the Emilia Romagna region, leaving victims, wounded people and damaged buildings in its wake,'' Prime Minister Mario Monti said in a televised address.
"I send the government's condolences to the families of the victims and call on all citizens to have faith. I'm sure we'll get over this moment."
The quake forced offices and businesses to be evacuated across northern Italy, including those of automakers Ferrari and Lamborghini, while schools were cleared.
A soccer match between Italy and Luxembourg scheduled to take place in Parma, 52km from the epicenter, was called off.
