Premier Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday
will chair an inter-ministerial meeting on the flurry of seismic
activity that started late on Monday in the area of the Campi
Flegrei volcanic caldera near Naples, Civil Protection Minister
Nello Musumeci said on Tuesday.
The activity has featured some 160 quakes since Monday evening,
including a 4.4 magnitude one that was the strongest to hit the
area over 40 years, sparking alarm among local residents, many
of whom spent the night outdoors.
Schools were closed on Tuesday in Pozzuoli and other towns in
the area as a precautionary measure and 39 families have been
evacuated from their homes, while inmates at the local women's
prison are set to be temporarily moved to other jails in
Campania.
The Campi Flegrei area, also known the Phlegrean Fields in
English, is currently affected by bradyseism, or ground uplift,
and the seismic activity in the volcanic zone has led to fears
of harm to people and property.
Musumeci said Wednesday's meeting would examine "possible
further interventions by the government" and "those already
being implemented. "
"I am in constant contact with Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has
been following the situation since last night," he said.
The prison was among the buildings in the area to suffer damage,
with cracks appearing in some and chunks of masonry falling
away.
The authorities set up a reception area at sports centre in the
Monterusciello district of Pozzuoli, where 80 spooked people
slept overnight, while many others spent the night in their
cars.
Nevertheless, many local residents complained about the chaos
that followed the seismic activity.
"I don't know what would have happened if it had happened during
the day and the schools were open," said one resident.
"The panic is likely to cause more damage than the earthquake".
Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said it was necessary to try to
get on with life like normal.
"I can't tell people not to be afraid because it is an
irrational feeling and it is natural," Manfredi said.
"But I say to the Neapolitans that there is great level of
monitoring, great attention, and that this area has never been
monitored like it is now, both from a geophysical and structural
point of view.
"Let's try to live as normally as possible".
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