Supervolcano near Naples: The danger of an eruption is always there

The region on the Gulf of Naples is an idyllic piece of earth. But there is rumbling underground: a volcanic field stretches over a diameter of twelve kilometers. How do people deal with the danger?

One day it could happen: The European super volcano erupts. Nobody can say when it will happen. But danger is always there, especially for residents of the quaint port town of Pozzuoli. Carmela Parisi was born here, she has a barber shop. She doesn’t even like to look at the animations that are circulating about the outbreak on the Internet.

“Honestly, I try not to think about that. It would cause panic. If it were to happen? Well, what should we do? It’s all destiny. If someone has to die, they die,” she says.

Arrange with the situation

Paola Migliore is also trying to come to terms with the situation. She moved from Naples because she likes it here so much. She sits relaxed on the barber chair and has her hair done.

“Certainly a few worries, a little fear – but when it happens, I go out on the balcony and encourage myself with my neighbors. So far I’ve never gone out into the street out of fear,” says Migliore.

Number of light earthquakes increases

In fact, the number of light earthquakes in the region is increasing. The Phlegraean Fields, a collection of many individual volcanoes, stretch over 150 square kilometers from the Mediterranean coast to the outskirts of Naples. In an emergency, around half a million people would have to be brought to safety from the so-called red zone. Authorities say it takes three days.

The evacuation plan is constantly being adjusted. It is important to train the residents, says Antonella Scalzo from civil protection. “There were special information campaigns and exercises, the last of which took place in October 2019. People took part in the evacuation, experienced a large part of the plan and thus imagined how they should behave in an emergency,” says Scalzo.

Changes have been observed over the years

40,000 years ago, the supervolcano spewed ash and rock as far as Egypt and Russia, it was the strongest eruption. It last erupted in the 16th century for eight days. Like neighboring Vesuvius, the Phlegraean Fields are currently dormant, but they can awaken at any time. For several years, experts have been observing major changes, such as Lucia Pappalardo, who works at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

Around 250 kilometers north, in the capital Rome, these phenomena are analyzed inside the volcano. The monitoring instruments are constantly providing data. At the National Service for Volcanic Risks, geologists like Antonio Ricciardi evaluate them. The all-important question is: how far in advance can the eruption be predicted?

“There are situations in which these announcement phenomena occur with a very long lead time, years or months in advance. In other situations, these phenomena only occur very shortly beforehand, weeks or days. But there is always an escalation, i.e. developments that we monitor closely have to,” says Ricciardi.

Hoping for timely warning

So the local people hope that they will be warned in time. And meanwhile they practice equanimity: “What should you do? Nobody moves away, nobody can do anything,” says a resident of Pozzuoli.