The supervolcano near Naples continues to terrorize people with violent tremors. Experts believe it is the biggest crisis since the last outbreak in 1538.
Pozzuoli – The series of violent tremors at the supervolcano in southern Italy continues. Early on Tuesday afternoon (April 16), over 50 tremors were recorded within 24 hours in the Phlegraean Fields in western Naples. At 3:34 a.m. people were startled awake by an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.0, followed at 4:11 a.m. by the next one with a magnitude of 2.3. The strongest of the day followed at 5:38 a.m. with a magnitude of 2.5. The tremors continued until the afternoon with magnitudes of up to 2.3.
Series of earthquakes at the supervolcano in Italy: The tremors rob the locals of their sleep
On Sunday (April 14th), the approximately 500,000 residents of the risk zone were shaken more than 100 times - with shocks with a magnitude of up to 3.7. People were at their wits' end and many ran back onto the streets: "My stomach was infected with fear and I couldn't stay at home," writes one user. “Yes, still an earthquake, Jesus help us,” adds a user on Facebook. Another user writes: “I can’t stand this anymore!”
In fact, the current series of earthquakes is probably the most violent seismic crisis since the last eruption of the Phlegraean Fields 485 years ago. At that time, Monte Nuovo was formed west of the port city of Pozzuoli during an eruption. “If you consider the magnitude and number of earthquakes, it was certainly one of the strongest earthquake sequences, perhaps ever, even if you take into account the earthquakes of 1983-84,” said volcanologist Professor Giuseppe De Natale, head of research at the National Geochemical Institute, on Monday and Volcanological Institute INGV and one of the world's most renowned volcano experts, in an interview with
Corriere della Sera
about the current series of earthquakes.
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Renowned volcano researcher warns of even more violent earthquakes at the supervolcano
In the 1980s, Pozzuoli was evacuated due to fears of an impending volcanic eruption. 40,000 people were housed in emergency shelters outside the red zone. It had been the most violent seismic crisis to date since the 1538 eruption, in which quakes destroyed 90 percent of Pozzuoli's buildings and destroyed the village of Tripergole on the site of the current crater. 24 onlookers died while climbing the crater between two eruptions. Today Monte Nuovo is a nature reserve.
After the eruption, the coastal strip sank because the magma underground had emptied - until an uplift phase began again in the 1940s, which caused violent swarm earthquakes in the 1970s and especially in the 1980s. De Natale now warns of stronger quakes: "In this area, the magnitudes can even reach the level of 5 or a little more." That may sound small, but De Natale warns: "An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 has a magnitude of around 33- times greater energy than the magnitude 4.0 earthquake of October 2, 2023, which caused significant damage.”
The last eruption caused devastating earthquakes and ash rain - could happen again at any time
When Monte Nuovo erupted in 1538 there were even tremors of magnitude 8. 25 centimeters of ash covered the city's roofs, causing many of them to collapse. De Natale urges that the ongoing inspection of all buildings in the red zone for their earthquake safety be accelerated and that conversions or evacuations be carried out. “It has to happen quickly and with the greatest possible speed, because a stronger earthquake, even much stronger than today's, can occur at any time, even if we cannot know exactly when.”
The geologist Alde Piombino also warns on Facebook about the consequences of a volcanic eruption, which could occur at any time: “Remember that the biggest problem in an eruption is next to the area that is directly at the opening of a magma vent and from the formation of a crater like Monte Nuovo is affected, the accumulation of ash and stone on the roofs and the fires that could occur with hot material." Volcanic eruptions are usually accompanied by pyroclastic clouds of gas, ash and pumice that can be up to 700 degrees hot .
Mayor is now having an evacuation road built just in case
The mayor of the municipality of Bacoli in the west of the Phlegraean Fields, Josi Della Ragione, is now drawing conclusions from the swarm earthquakes: “A few days ago, the municipal urban development plan was approved after 48 years, which includes the work for the dismantling of the Torregaveta train station and the construction of the most important escape route for Bacoli," Della Ragione told the newspaper
Il Mattino
. “It is a seven meter wide street that was conceived in the 1980s. Over 30 million euros are being invested; it is a very important escape route for over 40,000 people.”
Bacoli and the neighboring town of Monte di Procida lie on a narrow headland. Other scientists also warn of a tsunami that would hit the area in the event of an eruption in the sea. Others think about personal consequences that go further: “It doesn’t help, we have to move north,” writes a Facebook user in the group “Those in the Red Zone.”
Recently, rockslides like the one on the border with Switzerland recently shook Italy. In the Dolomites, a rock crashed onto a hiking trail near a landslide.