An earthquake shook Milan in northern Italy on Saturday, prompting some people to rush into the streets, but there were no immediate reports of damage, emergency services said.

The tremor, estimated at 4.4 magnitude by the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV), was felt throughout the Lombardy region but firefighters said they had not received any calls for help.

The epicentre was in Bonate Sotto, a town near Bergamo. Its mayor, Carlo Previtali, told reporters that "there was no particular panic or alarm" among the residents.

Locals took to Twitter to complain that after a fourth wave of the coronavirus, an earthquake was all that was needed. Lombardy was hit the hardest by the virus at the start of the pandemic, early last year.

Italy is no stranger to earthquakes. Most are mild and cause little or no damage.

The last big one, a 5.3 quake which hit central Italy in 2017, killed 34 people.