Italy's worst earthquake in 30 years adds to cracks in Colosseum amid fears dormant volcano near Rome is 'waking up'

A dormant volcano in the Alban Hills (file picture) 12 miles south of the Eternal city may be reawakening after experts found signs of activity below the surface

Scientists say magma has started building up about five miles below the surface prompting fears the Alban Hills is reactivating while the ground is reportedly rising by 3mm a year.

However, an eruption is not imminent and would not take place for about a thousand years, according to experts from the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology and La Sapienza University, the Telegraph reports.

The research, pubished on Geographical Research Letters, reconstructed the geological history of 600,000 years of the Alban Hills as they examined the 'cyclicality' of eruptions.

It comes as Rome continues to assess damage from one of the fiercest earthquakes in decades over the weekend.

The quake hit some 105 miles from the Italian capital in Norcia, in the country's Umbria region, early on Sunday morning – just two months another earthquake killed 300 people in the same region.

Cracks believed to be caused by the earthquake in central Italy can be seen on a wall of the Saint Eustace church in Rome, Italy

Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi said checks were being carried out on buildings and the city's evacuation plan was being updated. A crack is shown in the capital's Saint Eustace church

The earthquake was so powerful it is understood to have added fresh cracks to world famous landmarks in Rome, including the Colosseum.

An official involved in the Colosseum's upkeep said Sunday's tremor had put extra strain on the 2,000-year-old arena.