Thousands of people in northern Italy slept in tents and cars overnight as more than 100 aftershocks rocked the area hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake which killed seven people and inflicted heavy damage to centuries-old cultural sites.

"The fear that your house will collapse on your head is great, so it was good to be able to sleep in this tent," said one man who spent the night outdoors, cold but safe, in the town of San Felice sul Panaro.

Most residents said they were content with the relief effort. "They set up these tents very quickly. I felt safe," an elderly woman said.

Sunday's earthquake killed four factory workers who were on the night shift, an elderly woman who was hit by a beam and two women who died of shock.

It also caused an estimated €200 million (£161m) damage to agriculture and left a swathe of destruction across the Emilia-Romagna region, felling ancient churches and severely damaging a castle that had withstood wars and invasions for seven centuries.

A 14th-century clock tower in Finale Emilia was split vertically as if hit by a meat cleaver when the quake struck at 2.04am GMT.