Earthquakes Strike Off Sicily, Triggering Tsunami Alert
Precautionary evacuations ordered across multiple towns as tremors follow earlier severe weather events.
Callum Smith
A series of up to 12 earthquakes, with magnitudes reaching 5.7, struck off Sicily's northern coast.
Schools, courthouses, and municipal buildings in Palermo, Messina, Trapani, and Lipari were cleared as the alert went live. Tremors shook multiple towns across the island; Messina and Palermo regions experienced the worst effects.
The initial shake struck the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, just north of the Aeolian Islands. Another report places the epicenter less than 60 miles from Palermo.
All 11 other quakes registered above 4.0-magnitude. This seismic activity follows a period of severe weather earlier this month, which included an unprecedented tornado that injured two people.
Despite the widespread tremors and the tsunami alert, no damage from the earthquakes has been reported.