Assisi - Small tremors rippled through central Italy yesterday as friars prayed at the tomb of St Francis inside Assisi's earthquake-damaged 13th-century basilica. The tremors compounded the chaos caused by three powerful earthquakes which crippled the regions of Umbria and Marche over the past nine days.
The tremors caused fresh panic among thousands of people - many of them still camped out in mobile homes and tents - and brought down parts of seriously weakened buildings. Eleven people died on the first day of the quakes, on September 25th, and some 150 people have been reported injured in 48 villages and towns.