Rome Sep 12 (IANS/AKI) A magnitude 2.9 undersea earthquake struck off Italys Calabrian coast early on Tuesday and was followed several hours later by a magnitude 2 quake in the Sicilian province of Messina.
The first tremor was recorded at 0.44 am at 11 km depth off Calabria s western coast in the province of Cosenza Italy s National Insitute of Geology and Vulcanology (INGV) reported.
The second temblor struck at 4.59 am in the province of Messina and the towns closest to the quake s epicentre were Basico Oliveri and Falcone INGV said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in either earthquake.
A magnitude 4 earthquake killed at least two people injured 39 and left 2 600 homeless on the seismically active resort island of Ischia off Naples last month. The Ischia quake came almost a year to the day after a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake devastated several towns in central Italy on August 24 2016 killing 297 people and leaving several thousand homeless.
The earthquake set off a months-long series of powerful aftershocks that depopulated towns and hamlets in the area and is believed to have triggered a deadly avalanche in the central Abruzzo region in January that killed 29 people at a ski hotel.
Earthquakes are a common occurrence in Italy which is criss-crossed by seismically active fault lines.
--IANS/AKI
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