The super volcano of the Phlegraean Fields in Italy cannot calm down: constant earthquakes are wearing down the people in the region, and the first families have been evacuated.
Pozzuoli – The earth has once again shaken at the super volcano of the Phlegraean Fields in Italy. On Wednesday (October 4) at 10:46 a.m., a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded near Solfatara Crater. On Tuesday there was already a slightly weaker earthquake at 4:15 a.m. a few hundred meters south of the famous crater near Pozzuoli. A strong earthquake of magnitude 4.0 had occurred six hours earlier, and the epicenter was a little further east.
The strong tremors are always followed by dozens of smaller earthquakes, which is why they are called swarm earthquakes, which are typical for regions with volcanic subsoil. And the residents keep reporting loud “roaring”.
Supervolcano in Italy causes earth to tremble: stones fell from houses onto the street
The constant tremors, which can also be felt in the western districts of Naples, cause damage to the buildings. In Pozzuoli’s Agnano district, parts of the wall fell onto a street; thank God they only hit cars, as you can see in some videos. Some residents post photos of fallen plaster in their homes. Many citizens slept in their cars on Tuesday night for fear of an even stronger quake. The damage was not visible until the next day. Two families were evacuated from a house that was in danger of collapsing.
The situation at the super volcano is coming to a head according to reports from the National Geophsyical and Volcanological Institute INGV: The uplift of the ground in and around Pozzuoli has accelerated, without exact dates being given. Recently the ground rose by 1.5 millimeters per month. This is not as fast as during the last crisis in 1984, when the city of Pozzuoli was evacuated. Overall, the ground has now risen more than it did back then. The level has risen by around 113 centimeters since November 2005 and by around 80 centimeters since January 2016. This year the earth has already risen by 25.5 centimeters.
Violent earthquake in Italy: Video shows the damage the day after
The thermometers at the measuring stations in the hot springs of Solfatara also showed higher values at 95 degrees. However, the INGV is officially more worried about the earthquakes, which could be more violent than before, than about an impending volcanic eruption. “The measured values do not indicate an imminent outbreak,” the INGV tries to reassure. The experts suspect that it is hot water and gas heated by a magma chamber about eight kilometers deep that drives up individual smaller lava chimneys.
Little experience with the behavior of supervolcanoes
However, there is little experience regarding the eruption of supervolcanoes such as the Phlegraean Fields. The last supervolcano to erupt was Tambora in Indonesia in 1815, which emitted between 110 and 160 cubic kilometers of lava and ash. The Phlegraean fields erupted about five times as violently 39,000 years ago.
At that time, pyroclastic flows, i.e. ash clouds heated up to 700 degrees and traveling at speeds of up to 80 km/h, killed every life up to 70 kilometers away. 15,000 years ago there was another catastrophic eruption with 40 cubic kilometers of lava and ash.
Expert warns of outbreak – residents appear cynical: “Are we going to die burned or in the rubble?”
Volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, also a researcher at INGV, believes that supereruptions like these two are possible in the foreseeable future. The last locally limited volcanic eruption in the Phlegraean Fields took place in 1538, resulting in today’s small volcanic cone Monte Nuovo. 26 onlookers who were standing on the edge of the crater during the eruption died.
“I don’t want a little volcano like that to erupt in my basement either,” jokes a member of the Facebook group “Those from the Red Zone of the Volcano of the Phlegraean Fields.” One user commented sarcastically on the INGV reports: “Nothing we didn’t already know. We want to know what death we have to die. Will we die burned or under rubble?” So in other words: Is the supervolcano the bigger threat or is it the earthquakes?
Another user reports that she packed a backpack in case she had to flee a volcanic eruption right away. She asks what the others have packed. One user responds: “A lot of beer.”
Supervolcano rumbles: Are geothermal drilling to blame for the awakening?
Some believe that geothermal drilling in the Neapolitan district of Agnano in 2020 awakened the supervolcano: At that time, a shaft was drilled next to a car dealership in order to heat or generate electricity with the heat expected at the depth. When the drilling reached a depth of 88 meters, a powerful cloud of steam came out of the hole, which was difficult to close again.
In fact, the INGV professor Maestrolorenzo warned against drilling the Phlegraean volcano: “A drilling changes a geological sequence formed over thousands of years in which, if we can put it that way, everything is in its place and it could close in the wrong way. This leads to gas accumulation in the canal and thus generally to explosions.”
A video from 2020 shows the geyser steaming. At that time, the city of Pozzuoli ordered an immediate stop to drilling. A Facebook user now recalls the incident and says: “Millions of people live in the area of the Phlegraean Fields and are at risk. It is irresponsible for the responsible authorities to play with the giant volcano underground. I don’t know who authorized all this, but doing an experiment underground in Naples is really crazy.”
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