L'Aquila, Italy  - Three moderate earthquakes measuring between magnitude 2.2 and 2.8 shook the venue of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the central Italian city of L'Aquila ahead of the arrival of world leaders, local media reported Wednesday.

The tremors were felt at 3.35, 8.16 and 9.40 am local time (0740 GMT), with their epicentre located in the nearby Monti Reatini, the online edition of Il Centro daily reported.

Experts say the earth has rarely stopped shaking around L'Aquila since the devastating April 6 earthquake that killed some 300 people and left more than 52,000 people homeless. After shocks have been felt on a nearly daily basis, leaving those locals who are able to do so wary of returning to their homes.

G8 organizers have not officially confirmed reports of plans to evacuate US President Barack Obama and more than 20 other world leaders by helicopter to Rome in case of a quake measuring magnitude 4 and above.

The summit, which was to open with a working lunch on Wednesday, was taking place amid protests from L'Aquila's homeless, who distributed leaflets to the international media reading "Yes, We Camp!" - a parody of Obama's election campaign slogan "Yes, We Can!"

Organizers planned to draw the leaders' attention to the fact that thousands of local residents are still living in tents, more than three months after the earthquake devastated their homes.

"Yes, We Camp! is our cry, a cry that denounces the total inadequacy of the way in which the post-earthquake emergency has been dealt with," read the leaflets, with protesters pointing their fingers at the allegedly unkept promises of a speedy reconstruction from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.(dpa)