An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 struck near the southern Italian city of Naples early on Thursday, causing structural damage and prompting residents to flee into the streets. The quake occurred at 1:25 a.m. (0025 GMT) near the coastal town of Pozzuoli, west of Naples, as reported by Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
This seismic event, equivalent in strength to one that occurred in May last year, marked the strongest tremor in the region since the early 1980s, when a series of earthquakes caused significant damage and widespread panic in the same area. While minor earthquakes are common in this densely populated region, locals described this as one of the most severe in recent memory.
Raffaele Cipollano recounted, "I was sleeping, and suddenly I heard a terrible bang, I had never heard one so loud. It was a very bad moment. Then of course when I got up I turned on the lights and saw that my house is full of cracks, there are cracks everywhere." Emergency teams successfully rescued an individual from the remains of a partially collapsed building, with several minor aftershocks adding to concerns in the region.
Following the earthquake, there were reports of power outages in Naples, leading many families to spend the night outdoors or in their vehicles as a precaution against further tremors. Some individuals resorted to opening a gate at a former NATO base in Bagnoli to seek shelter.
Seismic activity is common in Italy, with the most devastating earthquake in recent history striking the Irpinia area in November 1980, measuring 6.9 in magnitude and resulting in the loss of thousands of lives, injuries to many, and extensive destruction across more than 300 municipalities in the region encompassing Naples.