Alert as Europe’s largest supervolcano may reawaken: Scientists warn of potential eruption

“It may be approaching a critical stage.” Seven years ago scientists began issuing warnings about Campi Flegrei, a volcano located just nine kilometers from the city of Naples (Italy). In 2017, they said the situation “had become more dangerous.”

Campi Flegrei is considered the largest supervolcano in Europe. A supervolcano has the highest Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) rating of 8, which in effect means that the volcano has a huge volume of magma deposits (over 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) waiting to erupt. Supervolcanoes occur when the magma rising in the mantle reaches the crust but cannot initially break through, leading to enormous deposits and extreme pressure. Eventually the crust gives way, leading to potentially huge eruptions.

Authorities concern over Campi Flegrei

Authorities are now warning about “signs of reactivation” at the volcano, which is 14 kilometres in diameter and has 24 different craters. It last erupted 500 years ago, for the first time in 3,000 years. In that eruption it ejected 200 cubic kilometers of magma, and the ash spread over an area of 3.7 million square kilometers. Currently the volcano’s craters contain many fumaroles and several boiling mud pools, plus various cones and subsidiary craters extending into the caldera.

A study carried out jointly by researchers from University College London and the Italian National Research Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology, published in the scientific journal ‘Communications Earth & Environment’, carried out their analysis with new data on changes in the number of local earthquakes. “We predicted in 2016 that the approach to rupture would continue after an additional uplift of 30-40cm at the location of largest movement,” they noted.

The authors of the study note that “volcanoes reawakening after long repose must rupture the crust before magma can erupt and said “A rupturing sequence has been developing across four episodes of ground uplift at Italy’s Campi Flegrei caldera: in 1950-1952, 1969-1972, 1982-1984 and since 2004... Our new work confirms that Campi Flegrei is approaching a breakaway. However, this does not mean that an eruption is guaranteed,” said study lead author Christopher Kilburn.

Kīlauea’s recent eruption

Last Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) activated the red alert for civil aviation after the eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, considered one of the most active on the entire planet. The eruption began at 4:45 a.m. local time. The US Geological Institute said the emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) released as a result of the eruption of the volcano reached 65,000 tons.