Earthquake on Italian holiday island leaves at least two people dead and 39 injured

A 4.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Italian holiday island of Ischia at 8:57 p.m. local time on Monday night. Up to now, two women have been reported dead, one of whom having been hit by falling masonry from the church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, according to the Civil Protection Department in Rome. Many people were pulled out alive from the rubble, including a 7-month-old baby.

A 4.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Italian holiday island of Ischia at 8:57 p.m. local time on Monday night. Up to now, two women have been reported dead, one of whom having been hit by falling masonry from the church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, according to the Civil Protection Department in Rome. Many people were pulled out alive from the rubble, including a 7-month-old baby.

Ischia is a volcanic island about a one-hour ferry ride from Naples, and the quake’s epicenter –at a depth of 5 km- was 1 km from the Faroe Islands on its west coast. The towns closest to the epicenter are Forio, Serrara Fontana, Lacco Ameno, Barano d'Ischia, but the area most affected is the Municipality of Casamicciola Terme, where about six buildings, including a church, collapsed. Most of the damage was in the high part of the island, while buildings located on the coast did not appear to be seriously harmed.

Three extra ferries were provided during the night for about 1,000 residents and tourists who wanted to urgently leave fearing aftershocks and many more followed after daylight broke. Some civil protection squads were already on the island because of brushfires, but helicopters and a ferry boat brought in more rescue workers from the mainland.

The quake hit a few days before the first anniversary of a major quake that killed nearly 300 people in central Italy, most of them in the town of Amatrice.