Naples – Eleven people entered the emergency room last night, following the 4.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the Campi Flegrei, with its epicenter on the seafront of Via Napoli in Pozzuoli.
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Among them, a woman suffered bruises and abrasions due to the collapse of a false ceiling in her home, while two or three cases were related to injuries from glass splinters, caused by vibrations or during escape.
The other accesses were motivated by panic attacks. The mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, reported this at the end of the meeting convened in the Prefecture by the prefect Michele di Bari, to take stock of the situation after the earthquake.
“An important test for construction”
For the mayor, the shock represents "an important stress test for the building heritage of this part of the city". The fact that no structural damage was recorded, he underlined, "demonstrates a good seismic capacity of the buildings".
However, Manfredi warned: "It is obvious that we must now continue to work on vulnerability. The only answer to living with bradyseism is to have safe structures, and we must focus on this."
The damage: a house evacuated and a school closed
The material damage seems limited. “In Naples,” the mayor explained, “we only have one house that has been evacuated, the one where the false ceiling collapsed, which caused the only minor injury.” As for private buildings, no further evacuations have been necessary at the moment.
Checks are underway, including in schools. A school in the Posillipo area, Viviani, suffered damage to its internal partitions, with small detachments, and was temporarily closed to allow for the necessary work. “We are continuing the checks,” Manfredi added, “but the damage found is all non-structural in nature.”
Analysis by the Vesuvius Observatory: shock felt strongly in Posillipo
In the meantime, the Vesuvius Observatory has provided further technical details on the earthquake. Mauro Di Vito and Francesca Bianco, researchers at the INGV, explained that the event was characterized by a “superficiality and a very marked directivity”.
The energy of the earthquake, in fact, spread mainly towards the east, that is, towards the city of Naples. The shock was particularly felt in Posillipo, where "significant ground acceleration" was recorded. The Napoli coach lives in that area, Antonio Conte and the two Scottish footballers, Gilmour and McTominay who were quite shocked and scared by the seismic event.
The situation is under control, but the alert remains
Despite the fear and panic generated by the earthquake, the situation appears to be under control. Authorities continue to monitor the area, which is considered high risk due to the phenomenon of bradyseism, which causes the ground to slowly rise and fall.
“We must remain vigilant,” concluded the mayor, “because the safety of the structures is the only guarantee for living with this phenomenon.” In the meantime, citizens, after a night of tension, are trying to return to normality, while checks on the buildings continue.
Article published on March 13, 2025 - 11pm
The news of the earthquake in Naples is very worrying, especially for the people who were affected and those who were afraid. It is important that the authorities continue to do checks and inspections on the buildings to avoid future damage.