ISCHIA – Both brothers trapped in the rubble of their home after an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale ripped through this volcanic holiday island in the bay of Naples have now been rescued. The two young boys were trapped overnight, after having hidden under a bed for hours. The quake demolished illegally built houses and killed at least two people, civil defense authorities said. 

 Firemen involved in the rescue operation were able to contact the two boys in their home in the village of Casamicciola. Rescue workers managed to pass two bottles of water to the boys. “We are in contact with both boys, we can hear their voices and we let them hear ours to reassure them,” firemen’s spokesman Luca Cari said. 

 Rescue teams worked through the night after the quake hit the village at 20:57 and firefighters plucked to safety a seven-month-old baby, Pasquale, who was described as in good condition despite the ordeal. Their parents, Alessia, who is pregnant, and Alessandro, have survived, cheering for joy when their children were saved. 

 The dead were a woman hit by falling masonry from the island's historic church and another whose house collapsed on her in the town of Casamicciola, some three kilometres (two miles) north of the epicentre. Neither have yet been identified. In all 39 people were injured, one of them seriously. Seven people are currently missing. 

A number of tourists who got a scare from the earth tremor that rippled through the island on Monday at around 9 p.m. decided to curtail their holidays and returned by the first ferry back to the mainland, either to Pozzuoli or directly to Naples. Many ran out onto the street as the earthquake triggered a short electrical blackout across the island.

 Buildings collapsing have also hit the nearby municipality of Forio, but fortunately no-one was wounded, although a family was left stranded for hours after a staircase crumbled. The local Rizzoli hospital is back and running having been evacuated previously to take in people affected by the earthquake. While the quake was not particularly strong, the effects were dramatic as many houses on the island were built illegally with poor materials, making them vulnerable to seismic activity.

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