- The Campi Flegrei experienced 150 tremors from Monday to Tuesday
The strongest earthquakes in decades were recorded in a volcanic caldera near the southern Italian city of Naples on Monday night, sending terrified residents into the streets.
Shortly after 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT) an earthquake of magnitude 4.4 was recorded at a depth of 2.6 kilometers, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
It was preceded moments before by a magnitude 3.5 tremor and followed by dozens of aftershocks.
Emergency services in the area reported cracks and pieces falling from buildings, while amateur video from a supermarket in the town of Pozzuoli showed bottles scattered on the floor after being shaken from shelves.
The Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, as the caldera is known, experienced around 150 earthquakes between 7:51 p.m. Monday and 12:31 a.m. Tuesday, the INGV said in a report.
According to Mauro Di Vito, from the institute, “it is the most powerful seismic swarm in the last 40 years.”
The civil protection of Campania installed a tensioned structure at the port of Pozzuoli for people who do not trust returning to their homes after the earthquake tremors, near Naples, southern Italy, on May 20, 2024.
Concerned citizens gather in a safe area along the seafront between Naples and Pozzuoli following an overnight earthquake
Concerned citizens gather in a safe area along the seafront between Naples and Pozzuoli following an overnight earthquake
The Campi Flegrei volcano in southern Italy has become weaker and more likely to erupt, making an eruption more likely, experts say.
Emergency services in the area reported cracks and pieces falling from buildings, while amateur video from a supermarket in the town of Pozzuoli showed bottles scattered on the floor after being shaken from shelves.
The city’s schools will remain closed on Tuesday and temporary accommodation has been set up to accommodate frightened residents, Mayor Luigi Manzoni announced on Facebook.
The INGV stated that it will continue to monitor the caldera and that “it cannot be ruled out that other seismic events may occur, also of similar energy.”
The Campi Flegrei are located between Pozzuoli and Naples, in the shadow of the much better known Mount Vesuvius, further east.
The Campi Flegrei experienced an eruption 40,000 years ago that affected the planet’s climate, and which has been of concern to residents and scientists more recently thanks to a resurgence of activity due to gases emitted by the magma.
“We have to live in fear all the time,” a Pozzuoli resident told public channel Rainews. ‘How long will buildings be able to withstand while experiencing all these shocks? That’s what we’re wondering.’
However, specialists consider it unlikely that a full eruption will occur in the near future.
