G8 ministers gather in Italy

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 8 (UPI) -- Italian authorities clamped down on Group of Eight protesters and has an evacuation plan if an earthquake strikes the host city of L'Aquila, officials said.

About 10 people were arrested and more than 30 detained in Rome in the first confrontation between police and protesters Tuesday, the eve of the three-day summit of world leaders, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.

The anti-G8 group blocked an access road to the highway that links the capital city to L'Aquila, the Abruzzo city hosting summit, officials said.

Pre-summit protests also were reported in L'Aquila, Turin, Venice, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Rome, Naples, Cagliari and Palermo. Several "No Global" groups and free speech advocates also protested the arrests, accusing the government of trying to stifle opposition, ANSA reported.

Meanwhile, officials in L'Aquila say they have a contingency plan in case the area is struck by a temblor such as the 4.1-magnitude quake that rattled the area Friday, The Washington Post reported.

In April, an earthquake rocked L'Aquila, killing 296 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless, and the area has been plagued by a series of aftershocks since. The Italian government said it decided to move the G8 summit to the mountain city from Rome to draw attention to the rebuilding effort.

"To cause problems, there would need to be an earthquake that has never before been recorded in L'Aquila's history," said Guido Bertolaso, chief of Italy's civil protection agency.