Nearly half of the guests ran out of the building, although the hotel did not organize the evacuation.

BBC said northern Italy is frequently rocked by minor earthquakes, but the country is well prepared to deal with them.

In January, a magnitude 5.3 quake hit northern Italy but caused no injuries. The last major quake to hit the country killed nearly 300 people in the central town of L'Aquila in 2009.

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.

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