Strong earthquake shock shortly after 7.05 am in Catania. The 4.5 magnitude earthquake was clearly felt by the population also in several Etna towns and also in Augusta and in at least three provinces of Eastern Sicily: Catania, Messina and Syracuse.
The earthquake was recorded by the operations room of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etna Observatory, in Catania. The epicenter was located on Etnanorth-west of Ragalna at a depth of four kilometers. At the moment there are no reports of damage to things or people.
No reports of damage in Catania but schools will remain closed as a precaution. Mayor Enrico Trantino announced this, explaining that lessons are suspended today as a precaution to allow inspections of the structures hosting the schools. A similar initiative was adopted in several municipalities in the province.
No intervention has been requested at the moment from the fire brigade operations room following the earthquake. In addition to Catania, the municipalities where the event was most felt are Ragalna, Biancavilla and Santa Maria di Licodia. Numerous calls arrived at the operations room of the provincial fire brigade command, but only for requests for information. After the earthquake, the general manager of the regional civil protection, Salvatore Cocina, ordered the immediate activation of telephone monitoring through the emergency service, in order to verify any critical issues in all the municipalities where the earthquake was felt. But there were no reports of damage to people or things.
Following the seismic event, with the epicenter located between the municipalities of Ragalna, Biancavilla and Santa Maria di Licodia, the Italian Situation room of the Civil Protection department contacted the local structures of the National Civil Protection Service.
In Ragalna there is “damage to homes and public structures” and “assessments and checks are underway by the firefighters and municipal technicians”. Mayor Antonio Caruso stated this, contacted by telephone by ANSA, underlining that he had “closed the schools” and that “there was no damage to people”. The Municipality has activated the Municipal Coordination Center.
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