The massive volcano in the Phlegrean Fields continues to shudder – and localities are training for emergencies. A new documentary shows what a medium-sized eruption can do.

Pozzuoli/Naples – The giant volcano in the Phlegraine fields in southern Italy no longer stops shaking. As of Monday morning, more than 30 tremors had been measured within 24 hours. Both tremors had a magnitude of 1.6, but dozens of people were also reported to have felt weaker quakes.

Disaster Prevention Exercise at Supervolcano – Hundreds of students were brought outdoors

On Monday, four schools with several hundred students in Pozzuoli and the Bagnoli district of Naples were temporarily evacuated as part of a civil protection exercise. It's loud ansa.it about thatTo test the leadership levels in municipal and regional structures that will be called upon if the situation worsens.

Recently, a documentary broadcast on Swiss television shocked the whole of Italy. The documentary simulated how the maximum eruption of the Phlegrean Fields volcano would destroy Naples. The film was based on the largest supervolcanic eruption to date, nearly 40,000 years ago. In this case, the small coastal town of Pozzuoli, located directly in the caldera of the massive volcano, and its neighboring towns would literally explode.

But the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) explained that there are no signs of a huge eruption like the one that last occurred 15,000 years ago. INGV currently fears earthquakes that will be stronger than those that have occurred recently.

A new video shows: Even a moderate-sized volcanic eruption would incinerate the entire area in a cloud of embers

Science Channel Geopop.it It has now also published a documentary about the supervolcano, in which a volcanic eruption in the phlegrain fields was simulated, albeit smaller. The channel's team, led by geologist Andrea Moccia, created a 3D computer simulation of the largest eruption at the giant volcano, which occurred after the last major eruption about 15,000 years ago. After this big explosion, there were about 70 smaller explosions. The largest of these smaller eruptions was the Monte Spina eruption about 4,550 years ago Geopop taken as a model.

But it was also difficult, as you can see in the video. It is run by Moccia together with the head of the Naples News Channel department fanpage.it, Ciro Pellegrino. You can see how the ground in the famous Solvatra crater near Pozzuoli shakes and steams intensely. Lightning then strikes the crater, followed by a violent explosion and the crater spews a huge black cloud. This volcanic cloud has something special: it consists of toxic gases, smaller lava particles and ash, and its temperature is about 500 degrees.

Maradona Stadium will burn with ash reaching 500 degrees

The embers cloud rises 20 to 30 kilometers into the atmosphere and accelerates along the Earth in all directions at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour. It would immediately burn Pozzuoli and the surrounding towns, but would also push towards the west of Naples. Among other things, the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium is located here Azzurri From SSC Naples. The documentary explains that this 55,000-seat stadium will also swallow this cloud.

However, the seats are empty. The video makers assume there will be time to evacuate the red zone area before such a large eruption occurs. Since the last eruption of Vliegrain in 1538, we know that there are enough warning signs to prevent a major catastrophe until then. In 1538, the ground rose 19 meters as Monte Nuovo erupted, Moccia explains. For comparison, he says: At the current stage, the land in the Bay of Pozzuoli has risen by 80 cm since 2016. Since the 1950s, it has risen by four metres.

No one knows where the giant volcano in southern Italy will erupt next

In addition, there were once much more violent earthquakes than today – up to magnitude 8. The largest earthquake last fall had a magnitude of 4.2. The thermal springs were also more active then than they are now. The eruption of Monte Nuovo was very small compared to the eruption simulated by Geopop – much smaller than the eruption of Monte Spina, the model Geopop simulated. Before the eruption phase, Pozzuoli Bay had risen by 60 metres.

Moccia and Pellegrino show that only three to four out of 70 eruptions in phyllgrain fields over the past 15,000 years had dimensions like the ones they simulated. The state-run INGV institute believes the next eruption will be similar to the small eruption at Monte Nuovo. But the problem is: No one knows where the next volcano in the phyllgrain fields will erupt.

It is densely populated everywhere. Even in distant Naples, the ash cloud will leave a 30-centimetre layer on roofs, which could cause many buildings to collapse. Static investigations of existing buildings are currently underway in Pozzuoli. One problem, according to Pellegrino, is that about 20 percent of the homes are black buildings that are often structurally questionable but where people live. No one can check the coils to see if they can withstand a volcanic eruption.

Recently, a new study caused a stir by identifying a new source of danger in the supervolcano. Other scientists warn that a volcanic eruption at sea could cause a huge tsunami. Scientists also marvel at the Mount Erebus volcano in Antarctica. The Earth's southernmost active volcano emits gold dust into the atmosphere every day.