A 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck the volcanic Campi Flegrei region near Naples on Tuesday, triggering widespread alarm, though there have been no immediate reports of structural damage or casualties. The tremor, which struck at 12:07 pm local time (10:07 GMT), had a shallow depth of just three kilometers (1.9 miles), according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
The earthquake was part of a larger seismic swarm that had already rattled the region, following two smaller tremors of 2.1 magnitude earlier, with another aftershock registering at 3.5 magnitude 15 minutes later.
Gigi Manzoni, the mayor of Pozzuoli, a city situated near the epicenter, took to social media to confirm the ongoing seismic activity, describing the event as part of a “major” swarm. While acknowledging the fear stirred among residents, he urged the public to remain calm. “This is a time of great anxiety,” he noted, advising everyone to stay in open spaces. Local police were quickly deployed to maintain order across the area.
As of now, emergency responders have yet to report any significant damage or injuries, though authorities continue to monitor the situation closely, with residents on edge as aftershocks continue to reverberate across the region.
The city’s cable car services were suspended briefly as a precaution, Naples’ transport company (ANM) said, but it denied earlier media reports that the metro had also closed.
Firefighters said they were carrying out checks on the stability of buildings.
Seismic activity is nothing new in the area, which is Europe’s largest active caldera — the hollow left after a volcanic eruption.
It stretches from the outskirts of Naples into the sea, measuring about 12 by 15 kilometres (7.4 by 9.3 miles).
Many of the 500,000 inhabitants living in the danger zone have been spooked by larger than usual quakes in the past year.
On March 13, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake rattled the Campi Flegrei region, leaving several people with minor injuries and causing some structural damage. This tremor comes nearly 10 months after a similarly powerful earthquake struck the area in May 2024, which was the largest tremor in the region in four decades.
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Despite the rising concerns, Mauro Di Vito, director of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), reassured the public, emphasizing that the situation was being closely monitored. “We continue to observe the developments minute by minute, but we must avoid unnecessary alarm. The data does not suggest any particularly worrying trends,” Di Vito told the AGI news agency.
The Campi Flegrei caldera, known for its devastating eruption 40,000 years ago—the most powerful in the Mediterranean region—remains an active area of geological concern. In the early 1980s, a resurgence in seismic activity prompted a large-scale evacuation of the nearby town of Pozzuoli, effectively turning it into a ghost town for a time.
Although there has been increased seismic activity in the region in recent years, experts continue to assert that a full-scale volcanic eruption in the near future is unlikely. Nonetheless, monitoring efforts are ongoing, and authorities remain vigilant in tracking any further developments.