A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the volcanic area around Naples in a ‘major’ swarm on Tuesday, sparking fear but no immediate reports of damage.
The tremor hit the Campi Flegrei area in southern Italy at 12.07pm, at a depth of just under two miles, according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.
It was preceded by two eathquakes of 2.1 magnitude, and followed by a 3.5-magnitude tremor 15 minutes later.
They were felt in Naples and neighbouring Pozzuoli, where panicked residents ran to the streets.
‘A major seismic swarm is underway,’ wrote Pozzuoli’s mayor Gigi Manzoni on social media.
He said it had ‘inevitably frightened the population’ but urged everyone ‘to remain calm, to remain in open spaces – this is a time of great anxiety’ before adding that he had deployed local police to the streets.
The Naples metro and cable car were suspended as a precaution, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Firefighters said they were checking the stability of buildings.
A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the volcanic area around Naples
The Naples metro and cable car were suspended as a precaution
Seismic activity is nothing new in the area, which is Europe’s largest active caldera – the hollow left after a volcanic eruption.
It stretches from the outskirts of Naples into the sea, measuring some 7.4 by 9.3 miles.
But many of the 500,000 living in the danger zone have been spooked by larger than usual earthquakes in the past year.
‘We continue to monitor (the situation) minute by minute, but we must avoid alarmism – the data does not indicate worrying developments,’ INGV director Mauro Di Vito told the AGI news agency.
The volcanic eruption of Campi Flegrei 40,000 years ago was the most powerful in the Mediterranean.
A resurgence of seismic activity in the early 1980s led to a mass evacuation which temporarily turned Pozzuoli into a ghost town.
Specialists, however, say a full-blown eruption in the near future remains unlikely.
It comes after a 4.4-magnitude earthquake on March 13 caused several light injuries and damage to some buildings in Naples
It triggered weaker tremors which shook the city for two more hours
Photos and videos showed cars covered in stones and debris
It comes after a 4.4-magnitude quake on March 13 caused several light injuries and damage to some buildings, ten months after another similar tremor in May 2024 – the biggest for 40 years.
It triggered a series of weaker tremors which shook the city for two more hours.
Firefighters in Pozzuoli pulled an injured woman from the rubble after the ceiling in her house collapsed.
Rescue workers in Bagnoli worked to free those trapped in their homes, with some residents climbing out windows, according to news agency ANSA.
Photos and videos posted on social media the morning after showed cars covered in stones and debris, cracked houses and panicked residents pouring into the streets.
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