Tsunami alert in Europe after 12 earthquakes strike and people evacuated

An orange warning has been issued

The earthquakes hit off the coast of Sicily with the strongest registering a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter Scale.

As per data from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology the epicentre was in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea north-west of the Aeolian Islands.

An orange tsunami alert has subsequently been issued, causing schools to be evacuated in Palermo, Italy's fifth largest city.

The courthouse in Trapani has also been evacuated, while residents across the nearby Aeolian Islands evacuated buildings when feeling tremors.

Meanwhile, a rock face reportedly collapsed on Filicudi, one of the Islands.

The epicentre of the magnitude 5.5 earthquake. Image: National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

Head of Sicily's regional Civil Protection department, Salvo Cocina, said: "The issuance of a SiAM tsunami alert at Advisory level (orange) has been communicated, and its instructions must be strictly observed.

"It is considered necessary that all municipalities concerned and provincial and regional operational structures place themselves on alert and ensure they are ready to respond promptly, given the aftershocks already recorded and the possibility of further tremors."

In Italy, an orange warning indicates "advisory", and means coastal communities face a wave of less than 0.5 metres and/or a maximum run-up on land of less than one metre.

Before the largest 5.5 magnitude quake, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake hit at a depth of 24km with as 10 other quakes in the area of at least magnitude 3.