Tornado Bologna
The tornado struck near Bologna, northern Italy, in the early hours of Saturday. .

At least 11 people have been injured and several houses damaged after a tornado struck towns and villages in northern Italy, near the regional capital of Bologna.

Amateur video footage posted online showed the tornado tearing into the village of Bentivoglio, close to the regional capital of Bologna, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that 11 people had been injured and several houses damaged.

The governor of Emilia Romagna, Vasco Errani, called on central government to declare a state of emergency.

Farmers working in the fields when the tornado struck were pummelled by a barrage of hale stones as the storm hit.

Numerous fields were damaged, and farmers warned the harvest may be ruined.

At around the same time, a 3.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded in nearby Ferrara

An earthquake struck the same region last summer, killing 27 and destroying hundreds of buildings.

Storm Earthquake