Italy's biggest earthquakes in the last 50 years

October 26-27, 2016: Two earthquakes of magnitude 5.4 and 5.9, and hundreds of aftershocks, strike the Sibillini mountain area in central Italy. One person dies of a heart attack, possibly triggered by shock.
August 24, 2016: A magnitude-6 quake flattens the towns of Amatrice,Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto, killing 298. The affected area is about 30 kilometres away from the epicentres of the October quakes.
May 2012: More than 25 people die, around 400 are injured and billions of dollars in damages occur after two quakes hit the northern region of Emilia-Romagna.
April 6, 2009: Some 309 people die, thousands of houses are damaged and about 70,000 people are homeless when a 5.9-magnitude quake strikes the central city of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region.
October 31, 2002: An earthquake in the southern Molise region causes the collapse of an elementary school in San Giuliano di Puglia. Twenty-seven children and their teacher die.
July 2001: Four people die in an earthquake in South Tyrol. The shock can be felt in the south-eastern German state of Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland.
September 1997: In the central regions of Umbria and Marche a quake damages around 9,000 buildings. The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is badly ruined. Twelve people are dead.
1990: In eastern Sicily 19 people die in an earthquake. Syracuse and Carlentini are hit particularly hard.
1980: About 3,000 people die and more than 400,000 are homeless after a 6.5-magnitude quake devastates Irpinia, an area south of Naples in the Campania region.
1976: A 5.6 earthquake kills 939 people and leaves 80,000 people homeless in the north-eastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
1968: An earthquake of magnitude above 6 rocks the Belice area in western Sicily, claiming 360 lives and destroying the homes of more than 57,000 people.

--DPA