More than 500,000 residents of Naples in Southern Italy will be evacuated in 72 hours after over 160 earthquakes rocked the region in a day.

On Monday, 160 earthquakes were recorded around Naples, resulting in the shutdown of factories, schools, and homes being evacuated.

A 4.4-magnitude quake occurred near the town of Pozzuoli. According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), it was the strongest quake in the region in the past 40 years.

Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said on Tuesday that the situation is “under control” and there is “no risk of eruption.”

Though no damage has been recorded, Italian authorities have marked out “red areas” where a mass evacuation would be done to prevent a possible eruption.

Mr Manfredi warned that “there could be more serious quakes” in the future, adding that officials needed to “manage this emergency situation with which we might have to live for months.”

“I can’t tell people not to be scared because that’s normal, but I can tell Neapolitans that we are paying attention and monitoring the situation,” he assured.

In the next three days, residents of Naples would be evacuated by buses, trains and boats.

Hundreds of tents were also erected in the town, and some residents stayed on the streets for most of the night while others stayed elsewhere with relatives.