A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei volcanic area near Naples in southern Italy on Friday evening, causing power outages, disrupting rail and metro services, and damaging several buildings. According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the quake occurred at 7:46 p.m. local time with its epicentre in the Campi Flegrei area at a depth of around 3 kilometres. Residents in several neighbourhoods rushed outdoors as the tremors were felt across the region.
Italy’s fire service reported minor structural damage in and around Naples but said there were no immediate requests for rescue operations. As a precaution, local rail and metro services were temporarily suspended while authorities assessed the situation. Italian media described the quake as one of the strongest ever recorded in the Campi Flegrei area, which has experienced increasingly frequent seismic activity in recent years.
The Campi Flegrei volcanic caldera, which covers much of western Naples, has been under close monitoring due to heightened earthquake activity. Officials have warned that stronger tremors have revived memories of the seismic crisis in the early 1980s, when thousands of residents were forced to evacuate. Italy is no stranger to earthquakes, with the devastating 2016 central Italy quakes claiming around 300 lives and the 1980 Irpinia earthquake remaining one of the country’s deadliest disasters.
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