Italy earthquake: Two dead, infant pulled alive from rubble

An earthquake off the coast of Naples has killed at least two people and injured about 40 others on the island of Ischia on Monday night, sending tourists fleeing for the mainland.

Rescue teams saved a seven-month-old boy who was trapped beneath the rubble for seven hours, the Daily Telegraph reports. Firemen also rescued the child's mother and two other sons aged 8 and 11, the BBC says.

Seven people were reportedly still missing on Tuesday morning. Three extra ferries were provided for about 1,000 residents and tourists who wanted to leave Ischia, which is a one-hour ferry ride from Naples in southern Italy.

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"There was a very loud noise, a rumble. It was like a bomb. At first, we didn't understand that it was an earthquake," Simona Postiglione, a local resident, told The Telegraph.

Six buildings including a church collapsed when the quake struck a few minutes before 9pm local time (7pm GMT) on Monday. The US Geological Survey and the European quake agency estimated the magnitude at 4.3.

Dr Roberto Allocca told Sky TG24 that the injured were being treated outside as much of the hospital had been evacuated.

The island is popular with German tourists including Chancellor Angela Merkel, Reuters reports. The earthquake hit several days before the anniversary of a major quake that killed almost 300 people in central Italy near Amatrice.