Magnitude 3.7 earthquake strikes Strait of Messina, felt in Sicily and Calabria

On Saturday 4 July at 17:46 local time, a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded at a depth of 10 km beneath the Strait of Messina, with its epicentre between Taormina in Sicily and Melito di Porto Salvo in Calabria. The tremor was detected by INGV seismographs in Rome and was clearly felt by residents of coastal and inland communes in eastern Sicily and the tip of Calabria, who reported moving furniture, swaying lamps and a few objects falling. No damage or injuries were reported.

The quake follows a recent pattern of seismic activity in the narrow sea channel, including a magnitude 1.6 event on 1 July and a series of smaller shocks along northern Sicily’s coast. INGV describes the Strait of Messina as one of the most geologically complex and unstable areas in the Mediterranean, where the African and Eurasian plates interact across a mosaic of active faults.