A 5.2 magnitude aftershock struck the same central Italian area hit by Monday's devastating quake that killed at least 272 people, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Thursday. The aftershock, which hit at 2:53 a.m. (0053 GMT), could be felt in Rome, some 100 km (60 miles) to the west, witnesses said.  It was not immediately clear whether the tremor had caused any damage in the Abruzzo region shaken by Monday's quake.

Hopes fade for finding quake survivors
* Death toll hits 281; 17,000 homeless in tent camps
* Reconstruction to cost billions

(Updates with president's visit, Berlusconi, comments)

Rescuers pulled more corpses on Thursday from the rubble of Italy's worst earthquake in three decades, braving strong aftershocks in the dimming hope of finding survivors.

The death toll from Monday's quake in the central region of Abruzzo climbed to 281 after rescuers recovered the latest bodies, including two students buried beneath a dormitory hall.

Twenty of the victims were children.

Tremors shook the medieval mountain city of L'Aquila and nearby villages throughout the morning, further damaging buildings and prompting authorities to cordon off the city centre, which bore the brunt of the 6.3 magnitude quake.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called L'Aquila a "ghost town" and said reconstruction would cost billions.

The aftershocks -- one reaching 5.2 magnitude early on Thursday -- terrified many now homeless survivors, 17,000 of whom spent a fourth day in tent villages.

Rescuers said the chances of finding anyone alive were decreasing hourly. The last person rescued, a 20-year-old woman, was dug out from the ruins of a four-storey building late on Tuesday.

"As long as we know that there are people under the rubble, we will keep searching even if we're sure they're dead. Families need to know what happened to their loved ones," one firefighter said.

In rare cases, people have survived more than a week buried under rubble following earthquakes. The government has said searches will continue at least until Easter, this Sunday.

BLAME TO GO AROUND

The Vatican's No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will preside at a funeral in L'Aquila for victims on Friday, which required a special dispensation because mass is not usually celebrated on Good Friday in the Catholic church.

Relatives of the dead have already begun holding private funerals.

President Giorgio Napolitano, touring the disaster zone for the first time, said there was plenty of blame to go around and cited supposedly earthquake-safe buildings that still collapsed.

"Nobody is without blame," he told reporters in L'Aquila. "Many people were involved in the construction of the buildings that collapsed. People need to search their consciences."

Officials say the quake will have a huge impact in a region which mostly lives off tourism, farming and family businesses. One estimate put the damage from the disaster at up to 3 billion euros ($4 billion), but its impact on Italy's nearly 2-trillion-euro economy is expected to be limited.

Industry Minister Claudio Scajola said over half of companies in the Abruzzo region "are no longer producing" after the quake. Businesses in the region would get preferential access to credit, he said, according to ANSA news agency.

Berlusconi's cabinet approved a measure suspending some tax and utility payments in the affected areas and earmarked another 70 million euros for rescue and relief efforts, bringing the total to 100 million euros made available so far.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti asked Italy's bank association to halt mortgage payments in the earthquake-hit area and to scrap or reduce bank charges.

With many local churches badly damaged, people prepared to celebrate Easter in makeshift chapels.

"We have been waiting for three days for the rescue workers to come and help us get some basic necessities," said Stefano Dedonadis, 22, who slept with his parents in a car outside their ruined second-storey flat. "We have nothing but these clothes."

Sources:
Daniel Flynn, Aftershocks impede Italian quake teams as hopes fade, Reuters AlertNet, April 9 2009, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9590609.htm

Another strong aftershock jolts central Italy, Reuters AlertNet, April 9 2009,http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9610019.htm