Campi Flegrei earthquake swarm: 21 injured, 22 families evacuated after strongest quake in 40 years
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake, the most powerful in the Campi Flegrei volcanic area in four decades, struck at 19:46 on 31 July 2026, triggering more than 60 aftershocks overnight. 21 people were injured, two seriously, and 22 families were evacuated from buildings with dangerous structural cracks.
The main shock and overnight swarm
The magnitude 4.7 earthquake hit at 19:46 on Friday 31 July, with its epicentre at the Solfatara crater at a depth of about 3 km, as located by the INGV Vesuvius Observatory. It was the strongest event recorded in the Campi Flegrei area since continuous instrumental monitoring began 40 years ago. Within hours, a seismic swarm developed: at 22:00 a magnitude 3.8 aftershock was distinctly felt as far as Naples, and through the night more than 60 tremors followed, about fifteen of them above magnitude 2. The most powerful of the night were registered at 5:47 (M3.1) and 5:49 (M3.0) on the morning of 1 August, waking residents in Pozzuoli, Bacoli and several Naples neighbourhoods.
- Magnitude 4.7 earthquake, strongest in 40 years
- Magnitude 3.8 aftershock, felt in Naples
- Magnitude 3.1 tremor awakens Pozzuoli and Bacoli
- Magnitude 3.0 tremor
Damage and evacuations
Firefighters evacuated 18 families from a building in via Sannino and another four families in via San Vitagliano after inspections revealed serious structural cracks. In via Cigliano a landslide from the cliff isolated four villas. A section of wall collapsed from a palazzina in via Pergolesi, and numerous cornices and chunks of plaster fell between Pozzuoli and Bagnoli. The Civil Protection Department updated the injury toll to 21 people, two of them classified as code red. Mayor of Bacoli Josi Gerardo Della Ragione said that in his municipality no houses were declared uninhabitable and no residents were evacuated, though he acknowledged widespread fear and pledged continuous monitoring of coastal cliffs and schools.
There is strong concern among citizens. In Bacoli there have been falls from cliffs and from plaster on buildings. And a lot of fear among the population. From the checks carried out on the territory, in synergy with the law enforcement agencies, no uninhabitable houses were found. And no citizen was evacuated. We had no injuries.
Transport and utilities
About 100,000 households lost electricity after a high-voltage pylon toppled, but service was restored quickly by technicians. Railway traffic on the Cumana and Circumflegrea lines was halted to allow infrastructure checks after debris from a collapsed wall fell onto the Circumflegrea tracks; the lines later resumed once cleared. High-speed rail connections through Naples also returned to normal after technical verifications. The port of Pozzuoli remained closed after cracks opened in the access lanes to the quays. The Coast Guard suspended all berths for local public transport, halting more than 40 daily ferry and fast-craft crossings to Ischia and Procida. An interdiction order for maritime state-owned areas beneath rocky cliffs is being prepared.
Crisis response and next steps
Prefect Michele di Bari convened the Rescue Coordination Centre immediately after the main quake and scheduled a further meeting for 10:00 on 1 August. Mayors, law enforcement, civil protection officials and all emergency services are to assess the situation. The Civil Protection Department, led by Fabio Ciciliano, activated the Crisis Unit and set up 185 beds at the Palatrincone reception area in Monteruscello, with additional reception centres opened at the former NATO base in Bagnoli and in via Terracina. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is following developments through the Crisis Unit. Campania’s Order of Geologists president Lorenzo Benedetto underlined that the effects of a quake in the complex Flegrean territory are strongly influenced by local geological and geomorphological features, and structural checks on buildings continue.
