Press
The shock is deep after the violent earthquake in the Phlegraean Fields. Families were evacuated from buildings at risk and the fire department is carrying out inspection patrols.
Pozzuoli/Naples – The red zone of the supervolcano of the Phlegraean Fields in southern Italy is not coming to rest. On Monday evening (May 22nd) and the following night, a violent swarm earthquake shook the bay with its around 500,000 inhabitants. The strongest tremor at 8:10 p.m., with a magnitude of 4.4, was the strongest since records began in the last century.
Earthquake on Italy’s supervolcano causes enormous damage: fire brigade and structural engineers check the houses
During the major earthquake crises in the 1970s and 1980s, earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 4.1 were measured in the Phlegraean Fields. Many citizens spent the night on Wednesday in their cars or in parks as there were constant new tremors, at around 6:29 p.m. with a magnitude of 1.9.
In the worst-hit town of Pozzuoli, 46 families were evacuated because their homes were at risk of collapse. This was announced by the head of Campania’s civil protection department, Italo Giulivo, in a press conference. In addition to structural engineers who have been checking the condition of residential buildings in the region since April, the fire department is now also going from house to house and assessing damage. So far, 836 applications for voluntary controls have been submitted and 182 have already been carried out. Every fifth house inspected was evacuated. 454 homeowners reported damage. Social networks are literally bursting with images of the damage.
Earthquake crisis at the super volcano: Reception camp for evacuees set up – and a prison is evacuated
According to the prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, 400 cots were sent to the municipalities of Bacoli and Pozzuoli. “The measure is essentially precautionary in nature to ensure that the camp beds are immediately available to the local population if needed,” said di Bari in the Cronaca Flegrea. However, several families have already been temporarily accommodated in the tents of the reception centers.
In addition, the women’s section of the prison in Pozzuoli was evacuated and 147 female inmates were transferred to other prisons outside the city. “The inmates are being transferred for security reasons, even if there are no immediate signs,” said di Bari. Hotel prices in the wider area are exploding because many have fled. Locals whose houses were spared are taking in neighbors who have become homeless.
Meanwhile, the tremors don’t stop. On Wednesday morning, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake shook the Gulf of Pozzuoli at 8:28 a.m. The epicenter was in the sea off the coast. The earthquake was clearly felt on the island of Procida, known for its idyllic old town, halfway from Pozzuoli to Ischia, Mayor Dino Ambrosino told the newspaper La Republicca reported.
“Because it occurred during school hours, managers immediately activated safety protocols and gathered students in outdoor areas. “We are on the verge of ordering the closure and evacuation of the island’s public schools, with the need to take back the children and even let the very young return home.”
Authorities try to reassure: “No indications of an impending volcanic eruption”
Meanwhile, the National Geophysical and Volcanological Institute (INGV) is trying to allay citizens’ fears of an impending eruption of the volcano: apart from the quakes, there are no measurements that would indicate an impending volcanic eruption. The INGV’s weekly report for the Phlegraean Fields speaks of stable temperatures at the thermal springs of the Solfatara crater and an equally stable emission of CO₂.
The uplift rate of the area is also stable at two centimeters per month. Last year it was an average of one centimeter. Other experts have repeatedly pointed out that the behavior of the Phlegraean Fields super volcano is unpredictable.
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