i felt a couple of rumbles but was outside and it wasn't obvious. i thought it was a quake but wondered if they were just wind gusts rattling the shutters.

interesting case in italy that sounds like a bad movie plot. Several scientists were rounded up and charged with manslaughter for misdiagnosing a spate of earthquake activity. They visited a particular town and told the people there that everything was fine, nothing to worry about, in fact it was good that the ground was releasing its stress in slower bursts.

as little as a few days later, a major quake struck killing dozens of people.
They were found guilty and sentenced to 6 years in jail and fined $1 000 000.
it sounds pretty drastic to be throwing geologists in jail for wrong earthquake predictions - unless they really did stuff up and mis-read the available data.

so what's your opinion on this one? slow build up to the big one, or the releasing of pressure?

though i guess the best, and most scientifically up to date answer is: don't know.
It's not currently possible to predict earthquakes, is it? That's probably what the italian scientist should have stuck with.
note: a bit more research suggests that clusters of small tremors in the one area are in fact a precursor to a major quake %5 of the time.