A powerful earthquake struck central Italy on the morning of April 6, killing 294 people and making tens of thousands homeless.

Some 65,000 people were displaced by the 6.3 magnitude quake, which hit the mountainous Abruzzo region in the early hours, catching residents in their sleep.

Many of the dead were from L'Aquila, a 13th-century mountain city of 68,000 people about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome, and surrounding towns and villages in the Abruzzo region.

Houses, historic churches and other buildings were demolished in the worst quake to hit Italy in three decades.

Hundreds of aftershocks rattled the area, hampering rescue efforts.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared a national emergency, and pledged to seek hundreds of million of euros in EU disaster funds.

Berlusconi, already scrambling for funds to cope with an economic crisis, said his cabinet would provide 30 million euros ($40.60 million) for immediate assistance and vowed to rebuild L'Aquila in 28 months.

About half of those living in tented camps or hotel rooms would probably lose their homes due to severe structural damage, Berlusconi said.

The state plans to provide people with about one-third of the money to rebuild their homes and businesses and offer low-interest mortgages.

Some 26 cities and towns were seriously damaged by the quake, and many of the medieval villages surrounding L'Aquila were virtually flattened.

There were numerous reports of some the area's centuries-old Romanesque and Renaissance churches collapsing.

In L'Aquila, civil protection officials estimated two-thirds of buildings were ruined, including a public hospital, part of a university residence and a hotel.

Prosecutors are investigating why so many modern buildings were flattened by the quake and whether flawed construction materials were to blame for the high death toll in an area known for its seismic risk.

The government has estimated the total reconstruction cost at 12 billion euros, a fraction of the country's 1.6-trillion-euro annual economic output.

The quake was the latest and strongest in a series to hit the L'Aquila area. It was Italy's worst earthquake since November 1980, when a quake measuring 6.5 killed 2,735 people.

Earthquakes can be particularly dangerous in parts of Italy because so many buildings are centuries-old.