A supervolcano has terrorized the Italian port city of Pozzuoli and parts of Naples with earthquakes for weeks. Now he suddenly became quiet. Is that a good or bad sign?
Pozzuoli – The approximately 350,000 people who live in Pozzuoli, the neighboring communities and the western districts of Naples have had sleepless nights full of fear: the ground in the Phlegraean Fields in the south of Italy has been shaking since March 2022. They are a supervolcano that has erupted devastatingly three times in the past – the last time 15,000 years ago.
Supervolcano in Italy: 140 tremors within 24 hours
The earthquakes have been increasing in number over the last two months: more than 140 tremors were counted within 24 hours in the middle of last week, the amplitude reached up to 4.2, and the last tremor with a magnitude of 4 occurred on Monday evening.
People ran into the streets in panic – fearful that there could be a more serious earthquake or even that the volcano could erupt beneath their feet. In fact, the quakes are a sign that magma is either surging underground or with hot gases put groundwater under enormous pressure, which could also lead to a catastrophe.
Is there a threat of a volcano eruption in Italy? Archaeological sites were closed due to the risk of collapse
Many Pozzuolans slept in their cars. Several houses were damaged, two families were evacuated, and schools and gymnasiums were closed to check for danger of collapse. The Flavian Amphitheater from Roman times was also closed as a precaution, and the underground Roman city of Rione Terra is also closed until it is certain that no one will be harmed by falling building parts.
But since the aftershock on Monday and Tuesday there has been a surprising development: the shocks are becoming fewer and weaker. Between Thursday evening and Friday at 7 p.m., the Earth shook only nine times with a maximum amplitude of 0.7. Only a few people felt the light jolts.
The people in Italy are asking themselves: has the danger been averted or has it just really increased?
The whole of Pozzuoli and the surrounding area is now puzzling: “Could this mean that the situation is returning to normal?” asks a user in the Facebook group “Those who live in the red zone of the Phlegraean Fields”. One user replies: “The volcano is just taking a breath.” Another user writes matter-of-factly: “Given the ASCENSION phase, the lack of shaking at the moment is likely to lead to potential energy accumulating.” He leaves open whether he means rising magma, gas or water unmentioned.
Finally, Mario Castellano from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) answers: “Unfortunately, it is not possible to know whether a period of moderate seismicity can necessarily be followed by another with more intense seismicity and also with energetically stronger events.” Predictions are very difficult. “A day with a few low-energy earthquakes will not change the situation.”
Volcanic eruption threatens in Italy: disaster stress test on clinics and millions for new evacuation plan
Yesterday there were two evacuation exercises at two clinics in Naples, which, according to the authorities, were successful. In addition, the Ministry of Civil Protection is working on a new evacuation plan for the region; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) made 52 million euros available for this. A Facebook user jokes: “The tax millions will have impressed the volcano and silenced it.”
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