Deadly earthquake hits northern Italy May 29, 2012 -- Updated 1021 GMT (1821 HKT) NEW: At least 8 people are killed, civil protection officials say NEW: "People are very scared," a journalist on the scene says The quake hits the same region where 7 people were killed 9 days ago Rome (CNN) -- At least eight people were killed in an earthquake in northern Italy on Tuesday, civil protection authorities said, predicting the number would rise. The earthquake came nine days after a quake in the same region killed seven people. People are very scared. It's been shaking non-stop for the past week," said journalist Andrea Vogt, who was near the epicenter. "We don't know how many are still trapped," she told CNN. Telephone lines are overloaded. It's difficult to get through to emergency personnel. The earthquake of the last 10 days have been "a real shock" to locals, she said, adding that no one could remember so many earthquakes in such a short period of time before. Factories were full. Many of the workers were working on repairs to the already damaged buildings," said Vogt, a freelance journalist based in Bologna. Tuesday's earthquake was centered in the province of Modena, near Bologna. The towns of Mirandola and Cavezzo were closest to the epicenter, civil protection authorities said. Some buildings which were damaged already in last week's earthquake were affected again today. San Felice sul Panaro and Mirandola registered most of the damage," a spokewoman said. Some train services have been suspended for safety reasons, and high speed trains from Bologna to Milan and Florence, among others, are running at slower speeds, train operators said. There are no trains stuck on tracks, Trenitalia said. There have been at least three aftershocks since the Tuesday morning earthquake, the Italian geological service said. Northern Italy is the heartland of the country's manufacturing industry. "It's going to have an economic impact as well as a human impact," Vogt said of the earthquake. CNN's Laura Perez Maestro and journalist Livia Borghese contributed to this report