Earthquake damages buildings, sparks panic in Italy's Naples
A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the area around Naples overnight, causing one light injury and some structural damage, and triggering panic among several residents, Italian officials said on Thursday.
The main quake was recorded at 1:25 a.m. (12:25 a.m. GMT) at a depth of 2.5 kilometers, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
It was followed by a series of smaller tremors, a so-called seismic swarm.
Photos and videos posted on social media show cars covered in stones and debris, cracked houses, and panicked residents pouring into the streets in the middle of the night.
One person was injured by the collapse of a false ceiling, the civil protection agency said, which also reported minor damage.
The fire service said the injury was not serious, adding that it was carrying out checks across the areas of Bacoli, Bagnoli, and Pozzuoli.
In Bagnoli, a seaside district in western Naples, schools were ordered to close on Thursday by city authorities, who said waiting areas had also been set up for residents afraid to go home.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was constantly monitoring the situation and was in contact with the relevant officials.
Seismic activity is nothing new in the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) area, Europe's largest active caldera—the hollow left after an eruption.
But many of the 500,000 inhabitants living in the danger zone had already been spooked by a 4.4-magnitude quake in May 2024, which was the biggest for 40 years.
At that time, there were no injuries or any major structural damage.
The 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 that reduced Pozzuoli to a ghost town.
Specialists, however, say a full-blown eruption in the near future remains unlikely.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
02-06-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sicily's Mount Etna Erupts in a Fiery Show of Smoke and Ash Miles High
Sicily's Mount Etna put on a fiery show Monday, sending a cloud of smoke and ash several kilometers (miles) into the air, but officials said the activity posed no danger to the population. The level of alert due to the volcanic activity was raised at Catania airport, but no immediate interruptions were reported. An official update declared the ash cloud emission had ended by the afternoon. Italy's INGV National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the spectacle on Europe's most active volcano was caused when part of the southeast crater collapsed, resulting in hot lava flows. It was the 14th eruptive phase in recent months. The area of danger was confined to the summit of Etna, which was closed to tourists as a precaution, according to Stefano Branca, an INGV official in Catania. Sicily's president, Renato Schifani, said lava flows emitted in the eruption had not passed the natural containment area, 'and posed no danger to the population.' The event was captured in video and photos that went viral on social media. Tremors from the eruption were widely felt in the towns and villages on Mount Etna's flanks, Italian media reported. Video showed tourists running along a path on the flank of the vast volcano with smoke billowing some distance in the background. Excursions are popular on Etna, which is some 3,300 meters (nearly 11,000 feet) high, with a surface area of some 1,200 square kilometers (about 460 square miles).
Al Arabiya
02-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Massive plume of ash, gas spews from Italy's Mount Etna
A huge plume of ash, gas and rock spewed forth Monday from Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, after a portion of its southeastern crater likely collapsed, authorities said. Images showed a massive grey cloud billow forth from the volcano on the island of Sicily, beginning about 11:24 am local time (0924 GMT), according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Surveillance cameras showed 'a pyroclastic flow probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the Southeast Crater,' the agency said. A pyroclastic flow occurs when volcanic rock, ash and hot gasses surge from volcanos. They are extremely dangerous. The explosive activity 'had transitioned to a lava fountain,' INGV said, with the plume of ash expected to dissipate towards the southwest. A red alert issued for aviation authorities said the height of the volcanic cloud was estimated at 6.5 kilometers (more than four miles). The nearby Catania airport was still in operation.
Arab News
02-06-2025
- Arab News
Massive plume of ash, gas spews from Italy's Mount Etna
ROME: A huge plume of ash, gas and rock spewed forth Monday from Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, after a portion of its southeastern crater likely collapsed, authorities said. Images showed a massive grey cloud billow forth from the volcano on the island of Sicily, beginning about 11:24 am local time (0924 GMT), according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Surveillance cameras showed 'a pyroclastic flow probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the Southeast Crater,' the agency said. A pyroclastic flow occurs when volcanic rock, ash and hot gasses surge from volcanos. They are extremely dangerous. The explosive activity 'had transitioned to a lava fountain,' INGV said, with the plume of ash expected to dissipate toward the southwest. A red alert issued for aviation authorities said the height of the volcanic cloud was estimated at 6.5 kilometers (more than four miles). The nearby Catania airport was still in operation.
