Italy quake town sues Charlie Hebdo

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is being sued by an earthquake-hit town in Italy over a cartoon it published about the tragedy.

A street in Amatrice, central Italy, after the quake (AAP) Source: AAP

The local council of Amatrice, the Italian town worst hit by last month's earthquake, is suing French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for slander after it published a crude cartoon about the tragedy.

Two weeks ago, Charlie Hebdo ran a cartoon entitled Earthquake, Italian Style. It depicted a bloodied man as "Penne, tomato sauce;" a charred woman as "Crusted penne;" and bodies buried under a collapsed building as "Lasagne."

The magazine then ran a second cartoon urging Italians to blame "the Mafia," rather than Charlie Hebdo, for building shoddy homes that are not earthquake-proof.

"This is a macabre, senseless and inconceivable insult to victims of a natural event," lawyer Mario Cicchetti was quoted as saying by ANSA after he pressed charges on behalf of Amatrice's local council.

Charlie Hebdo has often been accused of printing offensive cartoons. But in January 2015 it attracted global sympathy and was hailed as a bastion of free speech after Islamists stormed its Paris offices and killed 12 people.

Amatrice was flatted by a magnitude-6 earthquake on August 24, along with two other towns in a rugged mountain area about 150 kilometres north-east of Rome. The calamity killed 295 people and left about 4,500 homeless.