The death toll from a strong earthquake that hit central Italy early Monday has risen to 179, 40 of which still need to be identified, the Italian news agency ANSA said on Tuesday.

A rescuer walks past a collapsed building in L'aquila, Italy, earth April 7, 2009. The strong earthquake that hit central Italy on Monday has killed at least 150 people, injured some 1,500 and left around 70,000 homeless, Italian media reported on Tuesday.[Wu Wei/Xinhua]

Rescuers have pulled more than 100 people alive out of damaged buildings, the report said, quoting rescue crews. However, with the passing of hours, the hope of finding survivals from the rubbles is fading.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake, centered near L'Aquila about 95 km northeast of Rome, occurred at 03:32 local time (0132 GMT) early Monday.

The earthquake left about 1,500 people injured and 34 people missing, ANSA said. Some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were damaged in the earthquake.

After a quick conference of the Council of Ministers, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced that Italy had decided to allocate 30 millione euros for reflief efforts, ANSA said.

Berlusconi, who declared a state of emergency earlier and visited the disaster zone, also vowed to seek hundreds of million euros from the European Union.

Berlusconi pledged to build a new town near L'Aquila in 24-28 months, ANSA said.

Officials said that about 200 aftershocks were registered after the fatal one, the majority of which were of low magnitude. A powerful aftershock with a magnitude of 4.8 occurred at 01:15 local time Tuesday (2315 GMT Monday).

So far, more than 10 countries had sent condolences over the Italian earthquake.

UN secretary-general's spokesperson Michele Montas said Monday that the United Nations had communicated with the Italian government over the earthquake and is ready to provide assistance to those who are affected.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also extended condolences on Monday over the powerful earthquake.

People rest outdoors after an earthquake caused the collapse of St. Salvatore Hospital in Aquila April 6, 2009. A powerful earthquake struck a swathe of central Italy as residents slept on Monday morning, killing more than 150 people and flattening whole towns.[Xinhua]