The area around the Italian city of Naples is being shaken by the strongest earthquakes in decades. About 150 tremors were measured between Monday evening and Tuesday morning in the so-called Phlegraean Fields, a very active volcanic area west of Vesuvius.
As the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) announced, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 was recorded on Monday evening. Before that, there had already been an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.5, followed by dozens of aftershocks.
According to INGV, these were the strongest quakes in forty years. The institute announced that more earthquakes of similar magnitude could occur. Accordingly, a new earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 was measured at 11:22 am on Tuesday morning.
Schools remained partially closed
Emergency services in the region reported cracks in buildings and fallen parts. An amateur video from the city of Pozzuoli showed the vibrations that cause bottles to fall from shelves and roll across the floor in a supermarket.
Dozens of households and prisons evacuated
In Pozzuoli, 39 families were evacuated from their homes. Civil defense said damage had been reported to residential buildings as a result of the quake. Parts of the city’s women’s prison west of Naples were also evacuated. There were no injuries.
The city’s schools remained closed. Emergency shelters have been set up as a contact point for fearful residents, Mayor Luigi Manzoni announced via Facebook. Some schools in two districts of Naples were also closed for safety reasons. Local authorities checked buildings and railway lines in the area for damage.
Sports halls converted into shelters
Many people spent the night in their cars, fearing further shocks. Some sports halls in the cities of Pozzuoli and Bacoli were converted into shelters for the frightened population.
According to volcanologist Mauro Di Vito, director of the INGV Vesuvius Observatory, further earthquakes cannot be ruled out. Concerns about further tremors and volcanic activity are growing among the population in the affected region around Naples.
The Phlegraean Fields, an area of high volcanic activity in the Campania region of southern Italy, has been affected by many small earthquakes for some time. Usually they are small and barely noticeable tremors that weaken the earth’s crust in the area.
Alarm signal for eleven years
The area has been at yellow alert level for eleven years, which calls for caution. However, there have also been stronger tremors in recent months. The last time a stronger earthquake of magnitude 4.2 occurred was last September.
Source: Krone
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