A 4.7-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE west of Italy’s city of Naples caused 26 injuries and damaged properties, a day after the strongest tremor to hit the area in several decades.

The quake had occurred late Friday in the Campi Flegrei area, at a depth of three kilometres, according to Italy’s Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

The region, site of Europe’s largest volcanic crater, is home to frequent seismic activity.

View of damage caused by magnitude 4.7 earthquake that struck Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Friday’s quake was followed by a night of lower-intensity aftershocks.

The quake “is the strongest earthquake to have occurred in the Phlegraean Fields in the past 40 years,” Lorenzo Benedetto, president of the Order of Geologists of Campania, said in a statement.

Italy’s civil protection minister, Nello Musumeci, warned that the volcanic activity was not yet over and urged caution.

Some 300 people were forced to evacuate because of the tremors.

Italy’s civil protection service said that 26 people were injured, with five of them hospitalised.

Resident shows damage caused to his house by magnitude 4.7 earthquake that struck Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The earthquake also caused “the collapse of several unoccupied buildings” and landslides, Musumeci, said on social media.

Most of the damage and all of the evacuees came from the town of Pozzuoli, the Ansa news agency said.

- © AFP 2026