Magnitude 6.2 earthquake shakes the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Calabria

Magnitude and depth of the earthquake

In particular, experts point out that in the nearby city of Cosenza, the capital of the province of the same name in Calabria, no damage to buildings is expected as a consequence of the earthquake, given the combination of depth and distance of the epicenter from the coast.

Approximately half an hour after the earthquake, the Italian fire department (Vigili del Fuoco) posted on the X platform that no emergency calls related to the seismic event had been received, reinforcing the initial perception of an earthquake without serious consequences.

Tremors felt up to 600 kilometers away

Nevertheless, seismic waves were perceived over a very wide area. The tremors were felt throughout southern Italy, including the island of Sicily, and even reached the Balkan Peninsula, about 600 kilometers from the epicenter, according to data released by seismological services.

Social media users and local media in various regions of the southern peninsula and Adriatic areas confirmed feeling the movement in the middle of the night, with no significant disruptions to electricity supply or communications reported in the early hours.

A high-seismicity zone

The Calabria region and the nearby island of Sicily are among the most seismically active zones in Italian territory, situated on the border between the African plate and the Eurasian plate, which explains the historical recurrence of seismic events of varying magnitudes in this part of the country.

No activation of emergency protocols

Just about two weeks prior, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was registered in the area of the so-called "supervolcano" of the Phlegraean Fields, near Naples, a region that has experienced intense seismic activity in recent years, with thousands of small tremors that have kept the local population on alert.

To date, Italian authorities have not reported the activation of extraordinary emergency protocols or evacuations. Seismologists emphasize that deep earthquakes, while they can be felt at great distances, tend to release less energy at the surface than shallow earthquakes of equivalent magnitude.

Measurements from GeoSphere Austria, INGV, USGS, and GFZ all agreed in locating the epicenter in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the Calabrian coast, and in ruling out, in the initial hours after the event, significant effects on the Earth's surface, a relief for a region accustomed to living with seismic activity.