Italy's Civil Protection officials said the quake, which struck at 3:19 a.m., was part of a swarm of some 1,000 tremors, most of them barely perceptible, linked to Etna's volcanic eruption this week.

An earthquake rattled the Italian resort island of Ischia at the peak of tourist season Monday night, killing at least one person and trapping a half dozen others, including children, under collapsed homes.

"We didn't know it until the firefighters told us," she said. "We thought the whole time that it was a very strong earthquake."

Premier Paolo Gentiloni acknowledged delays and "malfunctioning" in Italy's response to the avalanche that buried a mountain hotel.

Italian emergency crews pulled three wiggling, white sheepdog puppies out Monday from under tons of snow and rubble.

Emergency crews pulled out four more survivors from the rubble of a hotel crushed by an avalanche and were searching Saturday for more as family members awaited word if their relatives were among the lucky ones to get out.

Ten people have been found alive under the avalanche that hit an Italian mountain hotel almost two days ago and rescuers are working to free them from the snow.

At least two people have been found alive; however, its unclear if there are any fatalities.

A series of three strong earthquakes hit central Italy in the space of an hour Wednesday, shaking the same region that suffered a series of deadly quakes last year.

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck central Italy on Thursday morning in the same region hit by recent strong quakes, the U.S. Geological Survey said.