At least 267 lives were claimed in the devastating earthquake that hit the central regions of Italy in the early hours of Wednesday, Italian officials said on Friday.

Some 207 people died in Amatrice and 11 in Accumoli, two towns in Rieti province close to the epicenter, Italian civil protection emergency chief Titti Postiglione told a press conference.

Other 49 victims were registered between Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto in Ascoli Piceno province.

Some 387 injured people were hospitalized across Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions.

Rescue teams and dog units have been at work amid the rubbles all night long, the second past from the major quake that has also left thousands displaced, Ansa news agency reported.

About 2,100 people slept in the tent cities set up in the quake-hit areas, the civil protection said. Overall, some 3,500 places had been made immediately available for those who lost their houses.

Search for survivors: Race against time

Amatrice was almost flattened by the 6.0-magnitude quake, which struck at 3:36 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

A makeshift hospital was being set up near the devastated town, civil protection Postiglione told reporters in Rome. It would work in addition to Rieti, Ascoli, and L'Aquila hospitals, which have been serving as major reference medical points in the emergency.

In a race against time for last survivors, rescuers in the town have focused their efforts on two sites: a private building along the main street, and famed Hotel Roma nearby.

A high toll of victims was feared in the hotel, which had 32 registered guests during the night of the quake. However, at least 20 of them were believed to have escaped during the tremor, Ansa cited fire fighters official Carlo Cardinali as reporting. Fire fighters were told 15 people were still missing in Amatrice, and were believed to be under the rubbles, the official added.

Chances to find someone still alive were growing weaker, yet authorities vowed search activities would continue until all missing people were found.

Furthermore, some survivors of the 2009 L'Aquila quake had been found alive under the ruins as long as three days after the event, emergency experts and rescuers recalled.

The civil protection emergency chief said some 238 people were saved from under the rubbles so far: some 215 by firefighters, and 23 by rescue teams of Italy's mountain military corp.

Aftershocks

Some 4,000 units from all Italian civil and military forces were deployed in the huge emergency operation, according to authorities. Their efforts have been put at major risk by strong aftershocks since Thursday afternoon, which made the already damaged buildings tremble and more ruins collapse.

Overall, 928 aftershocks have been registered since the first quake, the National Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (INGV) stated.

"We had 57 tremors just since midnight on Thursday, and a major one among them -- a 4.8 magnitude quake at 6:28 a.m. local time according to INGV," Postiglione said.

A major bridge near Amatrice, which was crucial to rescuers and aid transportation, had to be shut on Friday morning because of the new tremors, the official added.

The Italian cabinet declared a state of emergency in the affected areas on Thursday, allocating a first trance of 50 million euros (US$56 million) to assist quake-stricken communities.

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