A family of four were also trapped under the rubble and showing no signs of life.
The quake struck just after 3:30 a.m. and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.
First images of damage showed debris in the street and some collapsed buildings in towns and villages that dot much of the Umbrian countryside.
The mayor of the small town of Amatrice reported extensive damage.
“Half the town is gone,” Sergio Pirozzi told RAI state television. “There are people under the rubble. …There’s been a landslide and a bridge might collapse.”
Aftershocks are expected in Italy following a shallow 6.2-magnitude earthquake that has caused at least 6 deaths https://t.co/7Skf8bZpOI
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 24, 2016
Italian media said the first confirmed victims were an elderly couple, whose home was destroyed in the Marche region to the east of the epicenter.
In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the same region and killed more than 300 people. The earlier earthquake struck L’Aquila in central Italy, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the latest quake.
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