Sicily earthquakes: Tsunami warning issued after 30 tremors near Palermo

Around 30 tremors have occurred overnight in the Sicily region of southern Italy following a significant 5.5-magnitude tremor.

The tremors occurred close to Palermo, with the strongest registering a magnitude of 5.5 and striking at around 12.19pm local time yesterday. The epicentre was in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea north-west of the Aeolian Islands and about 30 aftershocks have been felt overnight.

Schools and government buildings were evacuated in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, as well as in Messina following an orange tsunami alert, which has since been lifted. Locals poured out onto streets fearing buildings would collapse, with authorities checking residences for structural damage.

The earthquake was initially assessed to be 5.0 in magnitude but this has since risen to 5.5. Prior to this, a 4.3 magnitude tremor occurred at 11.51am yesterday. As many as 10 other earthquakes in the area yesterday had a magnitude of at least 3.

The earthquake swarm is linked to the African tectonic plate pushing against the Eurasian plate beneath the Mediterranean, putting pressure on the Earth's crust around Sicily, according to experts.

Seismologist Nicola Alessandro Pino told Fanpage.it: "A well-known seismic zone has been activated, linked to the compression of the African plate on the Eurasian plate."

Yesterday's 5.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sicily was located 62km from Malfa (ME), 63km from Leni (ME), 66km from Santa Marina Salina (ME) and at a depth of 9km.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology says: "Looking at the map showing seismicity from 1985 to the present, seismicity in this area is frequent, with numerous events of magnitude greater than 4.0 , such as those of February 7, 2025 (Mw 4.7) and September 7, 2009 (Mw 4.7).

"In the Aeolian archipelago area, events of greater magnitude have also occurred, characterized by very great hypocentral depths (up to hundreds of kilometers) linked to the subduction process, such as the event of May 5, 2004 (Mw 5.3), which occurred at a depth of 255 km.

"More recently, in March 2026, just south of the area affected by these events, a seismic sequence occurred approximately 15 km west of Alicudi with just over 50 earthquakes.

"The strongest earthquake, magnitude ML 4.6 ( Mw 4.7 ), occurred on the night of March 21, 2026."

Yesterday's main earthquake was initially assessed to have a 5.0 magnitude but this has now been re-evaluated to 5.5, meaning the tremor was more powerful than originally thought.

More than 30 tremors have taken place overnight in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, according to Italian media.

The 5.5 peak took place at 12.19pm local time (11.19am BST) yesterday, with many aftershocks following.

The peak of the tremors last night is understood to be a 3.7 magnitude earthquake.