One man has died in a series of strong earthquakes which have hit central Italy, a region devastated by deadly tremors last year.

LISTEN ABOVE: Italy correspondent Jo McKenna speaks to Rachel Smalley. 

Four quakes of magnitude 5.2 and higher struck near the hill town of Amatrice, 100 km northeast of Rome, in the space of four hours. Much of the area had already been abandoned after last year's earthquakes.

The central Lazio, Marche and Abruzzo regions have been grappling with heavy snow, and one man aged about 82 died after the snow and one of the tremors made the roof of a farm building fall on him, a fire service spokesman said.

A hotel in Abruzzo was hit by an avalanche and local media reported three people were feared missing.

There were 20 people plus staff at the hotel, regional president Luciano D'Alfonso wrote on Facebook.

Twenty firemen, two mountain rescue teams, six ambulances and local police were heading for the site, but the weather could mean it takes them hours to arrive, a civil protection agency spokesman said.

No other deaths or serious injuries were reported.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said soldiers would help rescue teams get to the affected villages.

"This repetition of strong quakes is alarming for people who have already been so sorely tried," Gentiloni said in Berlin.

A 30-year-old woman and a 17-year-old man were pulled out from the rubble, suffering from hypothermia, in the small town of Castiglione Messer Raimondo, the fire service said.

"Some areas have no electricity because of the snow, so even cellphones don't work," said Sante Stragoni, mayor of Acquasanta Terme, a town hit hard by a quake in August that killed 300 people.

"The snow is two metres deep in some areas," he told SkyTG 24 television.

In Rome, buildings wobbled and the underground metro system was shut for several hours.

Schoolchildren were sent home, and museums told visitors to leave.

In all, there were 10 quakes over magnitude 4.0 clustered in a 10-km radius around Amatrice, which was devastated by last August's tremor.

The belltower of the town's Sant'Agostino church, badly damaged in August, finally collapsed.

The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in nearby Assisi was closed for the day as a precaution.