A powerful earthquake ripped through central Italy today killing more than 90 people as they slept.

At least 90 people were killed and 1,500 wounded in an earthquake that rocked central Italy today, officials said.

A powerful earthquake struck central Italy this morning, killing at least 20 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless, officials and news reports said.

Pilgrims began flocking to Rome today for the canonisation of Padre Pio, the enormously popular mystical Italian monk whose hands bled for years.