5.1-magnitude earthquake shakes Sicily, Italy

At least four people have been injured in a series of earthquakes around Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano, local media reported Wednesday.

The strongest was a 4.8-magnitude quake, which struck near the municipality of Viagrande. It was the latest in dozens of tremors since Europe’s most active volcano erupted on Monday.

“Local media and images posted on social media showed damaged buildings near Catania, an eastern Sicilian city of 300,000 people,” said the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, DPA.

Italy’s INGV volcanology institute said Tuesday that there was a new fracture near Mount Etna’s south-eastern crater. Volcanic ash covered nearby villages, and many residents were forced to evacuate their homes.