伊Pozzuoli authorities distribute evacuation tips and countermeasures guide
Geologist: “The probability of an explosion is low, but it is possible… “Evacuation will be difficult.”
Thousands of earthquakes have occurred since August in the Pozzuoli region of Campania, Italy, where a super volcano is located, raising fears among residents.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 2nd (local time), more than 2,500 earthquakes have occurred in the Pozzuoli area, located about 8 miles (about 13 km) west of Naples, Italy, over the past three months.
◆Frequent earthquakes are a sign of volcanic activity… raise the sea floor
Although Vesuvius, southeast of Naples, which destroyed Pompeii in the 1st century AD, is the region’s most famous volcano, modern volcanologists are much more concerned about the situation at Campi Flegrei, a cluster of low-lying craters around Pozzuoli. This 80 square mile (207 km2) depression contains more than a dozen cone volcanoes and several crater lakes.
About 500,000 people live here, and 800,000 live just outside the depression.
Residents here are nervous because there have been several recent earthquakes of large magnitude. This is because they live atop one of about 20 very large volcanoes, or ‘supervolcanoes’, around the world, and the continuous occurrence of earthquakes is a sign of volcanic activity occurring deep underground.
Earthquakes frequently occur due to a phenomenon called ‘Bradyseism’, in which a part of the Earth’s surface slowly rises or falls due to internal volcanic activity.
According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the area around Pozzuoli Port has risen about 11.5 feet (about 350 cm) since the late 1960s. Since 2014 alone, it has risen by more than 3 feet (approximately 91 cm). Over the years, frequent earthquakes have raised the seafloor, so that only the smallest ships can now access Pozzuoli’s shores.
◆The last explosion was in 1538… Recent possibility of crustal rupture ↑
The Pozzuoli population has grown steadily in recent decades. Although there was a government-mandated evacuation order due to an earthquake in the 1980s, residents continued to move to the area.
Campi Flegrei’s last eruption occurred in 1538, when a fiery explosion engulfed the entire village and created a new crater as high as 440 feet above sea level. This volcano, called ‘Monte Nuovo’ meaning ‘new mountain’, has been designated as a nature reserve. There are schools, restaurants, cafes, and shops all around.
A recent study by researchers from Italy’s National Institute and University College London in the UK found that while Campi Flegrei’s eruption was not imminent, the earthquake had weakened the volcano, making it more likely that its crust would rupture.
Alessandro Iannas, a professor of geology at the University of Naples Federico II, said that, like other super volcanoes in the world, such as Yellowstone in the United States, a catastrophic eruption at Campi Flegrei is unlikely but possible.
“If there were signs of an eruption in Yellowstone, we could close the park to tourists and close it for a few years, but we can’t do that in Campi Flegrei,” he said. “There are too many people here,” he said.
Pozzuoli authorities recently distributed a guidebook to residents containing evacuation tips when an eruption is imminent and what to do after an eruption. This booklet contains important tips, such as thoroughly washing food that has come in contact with volcanic ash and not driving on roads covered in ash.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.