This quake was the most powerful in over four decades and raised concerns that what scientists label a “seismic crisis” might be unfolding for the first time since the early 1980s.
The major earthquake, which didn’t result in any significant structural damage, and approximately 500 smaller quakes in October have left locals on edge.
One resident, Annamaria Scardi, a mother of two teenagers, has also felt concerned by the number of quakes to hit the region.
She said: “Even those small ones (quakes) make us afraid.
“We are worried because (we are supposed to) run away. But where do we go? Where?
“This is the situation. We’re on edge.”
However, experts have said that there is no immediate threat of eruption but remain concerned that geophysical activity is causing ground uplift and descent, which can cause buildings to become unstable.
If the buildings become in danger of collapse, the government made the decision this month to order widespread evacuations in the area.
These ground movements, referred to as bradyseism, occur due to the filling or draining of magma chambers deep below the Earth’s surface.
A similar crisis occurred four decades ago, lasting for several years and leading to the temporary evacuation of 40,000 residents from Pozzuoli, a place famously associated with actress Sophia Loren.
Local Vincenzo Russo said: “My family is divided… I want to stay, but my wife and children are looking for a house in the Castel Volturno area.
“hen you sleep at night, the nightmare is always there. You forget the situation and you’re on the couch, and then the tremor is there with you. There are big ones and small ones. Yesterday, for example, we had two small tremors before lunch.”
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