Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes southern Italy

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck southern Italy, with shaking felt across the region and in several neighboring countries, according to preliminary data.

The earthquake struck at 12:12 a.m. local time on Tuesday and was centered in Italy’s Calabria region, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter was located about 9 kilometers (6 miles) south of Belvedere Marittimo and about 152 kilometers (94 miles) north of Messina.

The USGS said the earthquake struck at a depth of nearly 250 kilometers (155 miles). Deep earthquakes usually cause weaker shaking at the surface than shallow earthquakes of the same magnitude, but they can be felt across a much wider area.

People on social media reported feeling the earthquake just after midnight, describing it as a long tremor that caused objects to move or sway.

Reports submitted to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) indicated shaking was felt in parts in a wide area of southern Italy, including in the cities of Messina, Catania, Taranto, Palermo and Naples.

“Two very close shakes one after the other, like two waves, a rumble and the house shaking,” a user from Cittanova, Italy, told EMSC.

Other reports came from as far away as Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Malta.

Deep earthquakes are not unusual beneath southern Italy, especially below Calabria and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, where the Ionian slab sinks beneath the region. The area has produced several deep earthquakes, while Calabria and nearby Sicily are also exposed to shallower, more damaging quakes.