Canberra's Italian community will unite in the face of tragedy to support those affected by the magnitude 6.2 earthquake that hit central Italy early Wednesday morning.
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As people continue to come to terms with the disaster, including the 247 lives lost, hundreds injured, dozens missing and thousands homeless, President of the Italo Australian Club Angelo Damiano said the devastation rippled through the local community.
"It is devastating," he said. "I don't know anyone personally who has been affected but obviously there are still a lot of people who have been impacted and I am sure we will have some kind of mass memorial over the next few weeks."
The quake, just 10 kilometres deep, struck near the town of Norcia, in the region of Umbria at 3.36am on Wednesday. It was felt across a broad section of central Italy.
Mr Damiano said Canberra had a strong support network that he expected to come together and donate to the villages that have been destroyed, as they did during the deadly 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, about 90 kilometres south of Wednesday's quake, that killed more than 300 people.
"When they had the earthquake in L'Aquila we did some fundraising activities and sent some money across, and I'm sure something like that will happen here," he said.
After the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, the local community raised money that contributed to the rebuilding of a school.
Mr Damiano urged Canberrans seeking to pay their respects to the victims and their families with flowers and cards to drop them off at the Italian Embassy in Deakin.
The tragedy was close to the heart of Lyons woman Elisa Brunacci, who had spent time in Umbria over the years, visiting her late husband Frank's relatives.
She said Frank was the former president of the Umbria Association of Canberra and was closely involved with Canberra's Umbrian community.
"I rang his relatives to make sure they were OK and thankfully they were as they were not living right where the earthquake hit," she said.
"There were always a lot of earthquakes there ... the people there were beautiful."
The Umbria Association of Canberra's current president, Lisa Quadraccia, said the six Canberra families of Umbrian origin that she knows of have reported all of their family members are safe.
"None of our families were located in the areas devastated by the earthquake. Many family members reported feeling the earthquake and the aftershock," she said.
A spokesperson for the Italian Embassy in Canberra said they were not aware of any earthquake victims who had relatives in Canberra.
They urged anyone with queries regarding Australians in Italy to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
If contact cannot be made, phone DFAT's 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 or +61 2 6261 3305 if calling from overseas.
