A moderate earthquake has rocked the Aeolian islands off Sicily, sending several people to hospital with panic attacks or minor injuries, doctors and local officials said.
The Italian civil protection agency said the quake struck at 2.54pm (1254 GMT) off the coast of Lipari, the main island of the seven-island chain and had a magnitude of 4.5, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. Besides shaking the tiny islands, the earthquake was also felt on Sicily’s northeastern coast, near the port city of Messina, the agency said.
Rocco Favara, from the institute, told Sky TG24 TV that the temblor struck about 19km under the sea.
The chief anesthesiologist at Lipari’s hospital, Antonio Indaimo, told the TV some people were treated for minor injuries at a first aid station on the island, while several others suffered panic attacks.
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