Phlegraic fields in Italy: the supervolcano in Europe is a cause for concern

Recently there have been repeated earthquakes near Naples. Earthquakes of magnitude 4.2, 4.0 and 2.6 shook the region. Epicenter: the Phlegraean Fields. According to the Italian Civil Protection, there was no damage or injuries during the earthquake, but the tremors caused panic among residents.

Even though ‘Flegraean Fields’ doesn’t sound threatening at first: They are considered Europe’s biggest threat. Because it is a hugely active volcanic area west of Vesuvius.

A computer animation also shows what a volcanic eruption in the Phlegraean Fields would do and the devastating consequences it would have.

In 2011, the National Geophysical and Volcanological Institute (INGV) published the video simulating a volcanic eruption. You can see how masses of glowing avalanches, consisting of, for example, ash particles and gases, make their way through the environment.

The outside surfaces in the video reach temperatures of 100 degrees, while the inside of the mixture should reach a temperature of 350 degrees. This would be a catastrophe for the people living around the supervolcano. The fear of an outbreak is therefore great. Today, half a million people live in the region.

For the Campi Flegrei, as the area is called in Italian, the evacuation plans are inadequate. This is repeatedly criticized by experts. But at least now we have to work on it.

The area of ​​the Phlegraean Fields has been affected by many small earthquakes for some time now. In August alone, 1,118 earthquakes were recorded around Europe’s largest active supervolcano.

Usually, however, these are small and barely noticeable vibrations that weaken the Earth’s crust above the Phlegraean Fields. Researchers repeatedly warn about this phenomenon. The area has been at yellow alert level for eleven years, which calls for caution.

An international team of researchers has calculated that a new outbreak could be imminent. A new model was used for the calculation, which analyzed patterns in the occurrence of earthquakes and the uplift of the subsurface.

Back in 2018, researchers at ETH Zurich found evidence that the next eruption could be a large, caldera-forming eruption.

The last major eruption occurred in 1538. The eruption lasted eight days. The ejected material created a new mountain, Monte Nuovo. In addition, the adjacent lake – Lago d’Averno, a volcanic crater filled with water – was closed off from the sea.

The most powerful known eruption about 39,000 years ago blew up between 430 and 680 cubic kilometers of tephra – volcanic material – considerably more than the Tambora eruption in 1815. Another eruption 29,000 years ago, whose deposits are in an area of approximately 150,000 people. square kilometers were discovered, destroyed large areas of land and led to a drop in the Earth’s average temperature. This eruption may have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals.

(and/mr, with material from dpa and AFP)