A WEST Dorset man has spoken of his terror after he and his wife were caught up in the earthquake which rocked central Italy, killing at least 23 people.

The magnitude 6 quake struck on Tuesday at 3.36am local time, and the death toll is expected to rise as emergency services continue to search for the missing.

Simon Cook and his wife, Maggie, originally from Burton Bradstock, live in the village of Montefalcone, around 60km from the epicentre.

Simon said: “It was very scary. We went to bed as normal and at about 3.35 in the morning I heard what I thought were really strong winds. It got worse and worse and then I realised it was an earthquake.

“As soon as I realised what is was I shouted ‘get up' and my wife wondered why I was shouting at her. I said 'Earthquake, earthquake.’

“Everything started shaking, including the beds, and things fell over in the bathroom. Everything was going on in my head and I was wondering ‘what do I do?’ My biggest fear was the building collapsing. We’re on the second floor and there’s another above us.”

Simon used a torch to guide the pair out of the building, but was terrified there could be an aftershock.

He said: “Once everything seemed okay we went back upstairs and sat on the balcony with a cup of tea. We were shaking.

“The electricity was off and there was no internet, so I used 3G on my phone to check the news and read about the massive devastation in Amatrice. There was nothing left of that village. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be fine were we were, although there was damage in the village next to us.

“After about 50 minutes, the whole building wobbled. It was a weird feeling that I can’t even describe. The whole building was just shaking.”

Simon and Maggie moved to the Montefalcone 20 months ago, following their retirement.

Former businessman Simon said: “We knew it could get earthquakes, but you just don’t expect it to happen.

“It was my first and hopefully my last experience of an earthquake and I hope I never experience anything like that again. It’ll be difficult going to sleep now, after that.

“I feel very sad all those people have died and there are people still buried. There is a huge loss of life.

"The village is complete devastation.”