earthquakes cause concern near Naples

Several earthquakes occurred in Pozzuoli, near Naples (Italy), Monday May 20 evening. In this town, the earth shook 150 times in 24 hours. The brief but repeated tremors surprised the residents. The strongest tremor was measured at 4.4 on the Richter scale. The city of 80,000 inhabitants is used to tremors, because Pozzuoli is built on the Phlegrean Fields, an underground volcanic complex made up of around forty craters and 13 km long.

This volcano, one of the most feared in Europe, smokes and boils constantly. In recent months, the tremors seem to have become more and more violent. “We can expect further earthquakes of perhaps greater intensity.”, warns Mauro Antonio Di Vito, director of the Vesuvius Observatory INGV. Around thirty families whose homes were damaged were housed in tents. Hundreds of residents preferred to sleep in their cars.