(CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's energetic response to Monday's earthquake has been generally praised despite his comparison of the ordeal of survivors staying in emergency tents to a camping weekend. An elderly local resident bursts into tears during a visit by Silvio Berlusconi, wearing a fireman's helmet. Berlusconi has visited the town of L'Aquila, the epicenter of the 6.3-magnitude quake, every day this week, talking to survivors and pledging government help to rebuild houses. He scrapped a visit to Russia that was planned for this week. The PM has even been greeted with applause on occasions, according to CNN correspondent Paula Newton, who interviewed him on Wednesday.
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Italy PM's response to Monday's earthquake has been generally praised
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Berlusconi has compared ordeal of survivors in tents to camping weekend
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PM has visited town of L'Aquila every day this week, assessing damage
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi
Berlusconi
"We have the plans for reconstruction and intend to start immediately with the building projects," @placeholder told CNN.