Alert – Earthquake hits Naples: ‘Whole city is awoken by huge roar’ as it is rocked by strongest quake in 40 years, sending people rushing into the streets

Naples has been rocked by a 4.4-magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit the area in the last 40 years.

The tremors were preceded by a ‘huge roar’, local media reports, sending people running into the streets at around 1.25am.

The powerful quake lasted about 20 seconds and awoke the entire city and large parts of the surrounding region.

The epicentre was recorded at a depth of two kilometers beneath the municipality of Pozzuoli, a city along the coast from Naples, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

Firefighters rescued a woman in Pozzuoli after the ceiling in her house collapsed.

In Bagnoli, rescuers worked to free people trapped in their homes, with some residents climbing out windows, according to news agency ANSA. 

The earthquake was the joint strongest recorded in the past four decades, with a 4.4-magnitude quake in the same area in May last year.

As with last night’s quake, the epicentre was recorded in the Phlegraean Fields area, beneath which there is a huge volcanic caldera.