An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 occurred on Saturday in the Adriatic Sea and was felt in southern Italy and on the Croatian coast, without causing major damage, according to the National Institute of Geophysics (INGV) and the relief.
The earthquake was recorded at 13:47 (12:47 GMT) at a depth of 5 km under the sea, followed by several aftershocks of lesser intensity.
It was felt in Puglia and Abruzzo and even in the region of Naples.
"
For the moment NO report of damage or request for assistance,
" said the Italian firefighters on their Twitter account.
The Croatian seismological agency said it recorded a magnitude 5.5 earthquake, followed by another 4.1 six minutes later.
The epicenter was located about 120 kilometers south of the port of Split.
The first tremor was felt more clearly on Croatia's central coastline, in Split as well as on the southern islands of Hvar and Vis, according to local media.
No damage was reported.
Located straddling the Euro-Asian plate and the African plate which pushes it towards the Balkans in the north, Italy experiences a high seismic risk over a large part of its territory.
In 2009, an earthquake killed more than 300 people in the medieval town of L'Aquila and its region, in the center of the peninsula.
The results were similar for the Amatrice earthquake in 2016.
Croatia was hit on December 29, 2020 by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that left seven people dead and destroyed hundreds of buildings and homes in the Petrinja region.