A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei area west of Naples on Friday evening, injuring at least 26 people and triggering landslides, building collapses, and widespread power outages in the strongest seismic event to hit the region in roughly four decades. The quake hit at 7:46 p.m. local time at a depth of just three kilometres, with its epicentre between the municipalities of Pozzuoli and Quarto. It was felt across Naples and the island of Ischia, and as far south as the Sorrento peninsula.

Campi Flegrei — meaning "Burning Fields" in Italian — is a vast volcanic caldera on the western outskirts of Naples and is considered Europe's largest active supervolcano. Unlike a conventional volcano with a single peak, a supervolcano is characterised by an exceptionally large magma chamber capable of releasing enormous energy across a wide area. The region has experienced ongoing low-level seismic activity for years, but Friday's tremor far exceeded recent events in intensity. After the initial shock, seismographs recorded approximately 60 aftershocks through the night, including one registering 3.8 magnitude.

In Pozzuoli, a coastal city of some 80,000 people near the epicentre, around 300 residents were evacuated from their homes after landslides and partial building collapses. Large chunks of rock and rubble crushed parked cars, and nine buildings were declared structurally unsafe pending further inspections. Tuff stone cliffs — the soft volcanic rock common to the area — crumbled under the force of the shocks. A section of the Pozzuoli pier was deemed unusable, suspending ferry and hydrofoil services to nearby islands. High-speed rail passengers faced delays of up to six hours. A partially collapsed high-voltage electricity pylon disrupted power for around 100,000 households in the Naples area.

Many residents spent the night on the streets, unwilling to return indoors. "It lasted a long time and was very powerful, and we no longer know what we are supposed to do," one evacuee said. A rescuer described one survivor as being "alive by a miracle," while also expressing frustration that warning signs had been visible for over a year. "The municipality knew about the situation and did nothing," the rescuer said. "Perhaps if they had acted sooner, this could have been avoided."

Italy's civil protection minister, Nello Musumeci, cautioned that volcanic and seismic activity in the area had not yet subsided, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said she was monitoring the situation in close contact with local authorities. The Italian government had already drawn up evacuation plans for the densely populated area surrounding Campi Flegrei in response to the region's persistent unrest, but Friday's event underscored how urgently those preparations may be needed. With millions of people living in the shadow of one of the world's most geologically active zones, the quake has renewed calls for clearer emergency protocols and faster preventive action.