ROME: A 4.2-magnitude earthquake shook the Campi Flegrei region west of Naples in Italy in the early hours of Wednesday, in the biggest tremor in the area for forty years, according to experts.
The quake scared residents but caused no harm or damage, the civil protection agency said. The Campi Flegrei is a vast volcano, though it is flat rather than cone-shaped. While less well-known than nearby Vesuvius, a recent rise in activity has rattled nerves.
The earthquake struck at 3:35 am (0135 GMT) at a depth of around 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles), and was felt across much of Naples, AFP reported. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology’s chief Mauro Di Vito said that it was the biggest quake in the past forty years.
More Quakes in Italy in Near Future
He said that it is possible that there will be more tremors of greater intensity in the near future. Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, mayor of Bacoli, a coastal town on the outskirts of the southern city in Italy, said it had been the strongest and longest of this long earthquake swarm.
He said that they have always been living on a volcanic caldera, using the term for a large, cauldron-like hollow that forms after an eruption.
