Quake hits Florence area, trains temporarily suspended

An earthquake hit north of Florence on Monday morning, forcing trains across Italy to be cancelled or severely delayed.

The tremor hit the central Apennine Mountains at 3.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) with a magnitude of 4.8, the U.S Geological Survey said. There were no reports of casualties, the fire brigade said.

Train services were suspended as a precaution, including those on the national high-speed line, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana said. However, they were resuming slowly several hours later

High-speed lines between the cities of Bologna and Florence and Rome and Florence "are progressively returning to normality, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana said. Slower lines were also starting to run again while checks continued on some tracks.

The company must conduct checks on the line in the area if an earthquake is registered above a magnitude of 4.