A 4.0-magnitude earthquake shook a region near Naples Monday night as residents posted videos of cars being pelted by rubble.
The quake – the latest in a series of tremors this past week – caused panic among locals who spilled out into the streets amid fears it could be the prelude to a volcanic eruption.
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The area around the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) volcano, which last erupted in 1538, has been the scene of increased seismic activity in recent days with a series of tremors.
Campi Flegrei is the largest active supervolcano in Europe – some half a million people live in the regions around it.
It comes as a joint study by Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and University College London (UCL) found in June that the volcano was edging towards ‘breaking point’ and in an ‘extremely dangerous state’.
Last week a 4.2-magnitude quake was recorded in the Campi Flegrei, which is west of Naples.
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It was the strongest the area has seen in 40 years, which was felt as far away as Rome.
Some locals were furious with the civil protection agency’s slow response to the tremors, with one woman recorded yelling: ‘They took three hours to arrive on scene… We live in abandonment, we’re alone! ‘What the f*** is the mayor doing!’
The epicentre of Monday’s quake was located at a depth of nearly two miles between Naples and Pozzuoli, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).