People living in Naples were shaken awake early on Thursday morning after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Italian city – its strongest in 40 years.
Some residents left their homes for the streets and even stayed in their vehicles overnight after the quake hit at around 1.25am, causing minor damage and forcing 11 people to go to hospital.
A church, a seven-floor residential building and another building were declared off-limits due to damage, and some schools were closed as a precaution, Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said.
A damaged car in the street in Naples. Pic: AP
The epicentre was near the coastal town of Pozzuoli, west of the city, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said. Several minor aftershocks were felt in the region.
Stone and cement from some facades was loosened by the quake and inspectors were checking buildings for further damage, Mr Manfredi said.
“We are following with the greatest attention all of our structures, and are monitoring all events in real time,” he added.
One woman was rescued from the rubble of a partially collapsed house, authorities confirmed, while Mr Manfredi said several others suffered cuts from glass that broke in the quake.
Power outages were reported in parts of the city, and many families chose to stay outdoors or in their vehicles overnight, fearing further tremors.
Videos and photos posted on social media showed cars covered in debris, houses cracked and residents fleeing to the streets at night.
Some people forced open a gate at a former NATO base in Bagnoli in order to seek safety.
Raffaele Cipollano said he was sleeping, and suddenly “heard a terrible bang”.
The quake struck at 1.25am local time. Pic: AP
“When I got up, I turned on the lights and saw that my house is full of cracks, there are cracks everywhere,” he added.
It equalled the magnitude of another quake in the same area last May, and was the strongest in the city since the early 1980s.
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Naples sits on the Phlegraean Fields, an area of ancient volcanoes covering much of the Naples metropolitan area, taking in the city’s western neighbourhoods and its suburbs.
The area is both seismically and volcanically active.
Seismologists have reported a fresh increase in activity around the Phlegraean Fields over recent weeks.
Drills were carried out last summer in case of a major emergency as the frequency of temblors increased.
The most serious earthquake in the Naples region in recent times, of magnitude 6.9 in November 1980, killed some 2,734 people, injured more than 8,800 and damaged hundreds of towns.
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