The death toll from Italy's earthquakes has reached 150 as 1,500 people are reported wounded while many others are still trapped under the rubble.

The rescue operation is underway in most areas with more than 1,700 rescuers attempting to recover bodies or rescue those trapped under the ruined buildings.

Cries for help are heard from the rubble, and thousands are in the streets bracing for aftershocks.

A state of emergency has been declared by the government and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cancelled a trip to Russia to go instead to the disaster area, the capital of the Abruzzo region, about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Rome.

"I want to say something important, no one will be abandoned to his fate," he said, adding that a tent village was being set up that could accommodate between 16,000 and 20,000 people and would be ready by nightfall.

Around 50,000 people have lost shelter on the back of the disastrous quake, said emergency services, according to AFP.

The 6.7-magnitude quake rocked central Italy early on Monday and was powerful enough to be felt in Rome, around 60 miles from the epicenter.