Thousands of people in central Italy spent the night in cars, tents and temporary accommodation following the fourth earthquake in the area since August.

Residents in one of the worst hit towns, Norcia, say they were too frightened to stay there.

Although it was bigger than the 24 August earthquake that killed almost 300 people, no-one died in yesterday’s tremor, but huge damage was caused. 

Around 11,000 people are expected to need help from Italy's Civil Protection agency following the recent earthquakes.

Weakened by repeated powerful jolts in recent weeks, many of Norcia's churches, monasteries and chapels were wrecked in the 6.6 magnitude quake.

"We thought it was the end of everything," said 74-year-old Sr Maria Raffaella Buoso, sitting on a bench outside the walls of the medieval town after being evacuated from the Monastery of the Poor Clares of Santa Maria della Pace.

The nuns of the Poor Clares are normally cloistered and only leave the monastery in an emergency. Firemen had to break the doors down to get them out.

The six nuns have been ordered to leave for now, although they are confident that their church, which was built at the beginning of the 16th century, did not suffer extensive damage.

Other places were less fortunate, including the historic Basilica of St Benedict, which stood on the main square of Norcia and was supposedly built over the birthplace of Benedict, the patron saint of Europe, and his sister St Scolastica.

Badly damaged in multiple quakes on 24 August and 26 October, the monastery complex, including the 13th century Basilica, finally collapsed in a pile of rubble, leaving just the Gothic facade standing.

The 13 monks had been forced to abandon their monastery and their small commercial brewery following the previous tremors.

However, they had hoped for a swift return, with the Italian emergency services releasing video earlier this week showing roof repairs being carried out on the imposing Basilica.

Although Norcia is intimately linked with Saint Benedict, the monks only came back to the town in 2000, some 190 years after the community was suppressed by the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte when he took control of large parts of Italy.

"(We have) started to accept once more that our life is not our own and God has altered our path once again," one of the monks, father Benedict, wrote after the 26 October quake.

With dust still blowing in the air yesterday morning following Italy's strongest quake since 1980, monks and residents sank to their knees in front of the destroyed Basilica in silent prayer.

While many of Norcia's sturdy houses have been earthquake-protected and largely survived this year's wave of tremors, the town's bigger religious structures were found to be less stable.

"Our churches have suffered terrible injuries," said mayor Nicola Alemanno.

Lost or severely damaged were ancient Roman walls, Gothic and Baroque churches and centuries-old paintings crushed beneath tons of brick, sandstone and marble.

A short distance from the town square, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Argentea lay in ruins, its roof caved in, while the nearby Convent of Sant'Antonio was also badly scarred.

"Everything is broken. All the rooms, the bell tower has fallen down, the church itself," said an elderly nun, leaning on her cane as she was interviewed by la Repubblica TV.

Local authorities have ordered residents out of the town centre, forcing the nuns and monks to seek shelter elsewhere, including the six sisters from the Monastery of the Poor Clares, who were dismayed to hear that they would have to stay with Benedictine nuns in nearby Trevi.

"They live differently in other cloisters. They don't get up to pray at night," said Sr Maria Chiara Vittorie, 73.

"It makes me sad to leave because this is our cloister, our life is here."