Italian town hit by strongest earthquake in 40 years

A powerful 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook Italy's Naples and surrounding areas early Thursday morning, marking the strongest tremor to hit the city in four decades.

The quake, which struck at 01.25 am local time, sent terrified residents rushing into the streets, with many spending the night in their cars.

According to the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of three kilometers near the town of Pozzuoli, located in the seismically active Campi Flegrei region.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the tremor at a slightly lower magnitude of 4.2 at a depth of ten kilometers.