Campi Flegrei Napels: Supervulkaan kan leven Europa in bedreigen

quote:

Op woensdag 14 mei 2025 14:54 schreef Frutsel het volgende:

[..]

quote:

Scientists issue warning supervolcano that could 'plunge the planet into chaos' is awakening

One of the world's most dangerous supervolcanos could be on the brink of a devastating eruption, as scientists issue warnings claiming that it could plunge the planet into chaos.

Volcanoes are some of the most fascinating yet dangerous natural phenomenons across the world, and they remain somewhat unquantifiable by even the most knowledgable experts in the scientific world.

Underwater volcanoes in the arctic could have catastrophic effects on global sea-levels if they erupt in their hundreds, and only recently were we able to observe jaw-dropping footage of a 1,000 foot magma fountain in Hawaii.

Scientists have now alerted people towards a far more dangerous prospect currently brewing in Italy though, as there's a historic supervolcano that could very well be on the verge of eruption.

Which supervolcano have scientists issued a warning for?
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Campi Flegrei volcanic caldera near Naples in Italy is an area of particular danger right now, and multiple warning signs point towards an imminent eruption which would likely cause catastrophic damage.

Translating literally to 'burning fields', this large cauldron-like supervolcano is actually part of the Campanian volcanic arc that also includes the infamous Mount Vesuvius that laid Pompeii to waste in 79 AD.

Scientists worry that Campi Flegrei's eruption could be near, and the results would be catastrophic (Vincenzo Izzo/LightRocket via Getty Images)Scientists worry that Campi Flegrei's eruption could be near, and the results would be catastrophic (Vincenzo Izzo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Scientists worry that Campi Flegrei's eruption could be near, and the results would be catastrophic (Vincenzo Izzo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The sheer size and magma build up within Camp Flegrei could possibly produce an event on that scale too if (or potentially when) it does erupt too, with the risk stretching to roughly 4,000,000 people in the wider metropolitan area of Naples.

What signs are there that it'll erupt?
Scientists have highlighted two primary signs that indicate the risk of eruption with Campi Flegrei, with the first being the increase in seismic activity in the surrounding area.

More than 3,000 tremors (amounting to smaller earthquakes) have been recorded in the last six months, and it's extremely common for eruptions to occur following heightened seismic activity due to the pressure that builds up inside the volcano.

This pushes the magma upwards to the top of the crater, and once it breaks through that's when the lava and magma is released.

Additionally, researchers have also noticed a jump in gaseous emissions releasing from Campi Flegrei, with daily levels of carbon dioxide estimated to be between 4,000 and 5,000 tons.

Volcanoes can release gas when the rocks inside naturally interact, but around 80% of the carbon dioxide currently emitting from the volcano is understood to be a consequence of magma that sits just a few miles under the surface.

How dangerous would the eruption be?
As mentioned, if Campi Flegrei were to erupt then it would affect roughly 4,000,000 people in the area surrounding Naples, with the vast majority of the damage affecting the city.

This would also stretch to nearby towns such as Pozzuoli, and damage would likely be catastrophic with buildings and other major structures destroyed by a combination of lava, hot gas, and ash clouds.

It would also have a knock-on effect on conditions after the eruption, as access to power, water, and other essential utilties would likely be cut off, making life extremely difficult.

One of the biggest risks is that it's difficult for scientists to accurately predict when an eruption like this will occur, making any evacuation measures prove challenging to organize.

Campi Flegrei hasn't erupted in nearly half a millennia, with the last one coming all the way back in 1538, but many are hoping that wait continues as the results could be horrific.

quote:

Scientists May Have Found a Way To Stop Italy’s Awakening Supervolcano

Stanford researchers linked Campi Flegrei’s earthquakes to groundwater pressure, not magma. Managing water flow could reduce seismic risk in the region.

Since 2022, southern Italy has experienced increasingly intense swarms of earthquakes, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk in the volcanic region of Campi Flegrei, where the ground slowly rises and falls. As officials continue to weigh evacuation plans and disaster response strategies, researchers may have identified a potential method to stop this recurring unrest: managing surface water runoff or reducing groundwater levels to lower fluid pressure in the geothermal reservoir.

Using subsurface imaging and laboratory experiments, scientists at Stanford have demonstrated that pressure from trapped water and vapor beneath Campi Flegrei can cause earthquakes when the caprock, or surface layer, becomes sealed. Published in Science Advances, the study found that this buildup of pressure was responsible for seismic activity and ground deformation in both the early 1980s and more recently, over the past 15 years, leading the team to uncover the key driving mechanism.

These results challenge the long-standing belief that earthquakes in the area are caused by magma or gas rising to the surface from deeper melt zones. Instead, the study reveals how the gradual recharge of water into the reservoir affects land deformation and elevation changes over time.

“To address the problem, we can manage surface runoff and water flow, or even reduce pressure by withdrawing fluids from wells,” said senior study author Tiziana Vanorio, an associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

The researchers analyzed recurring patterns and common characteristics in the imaging of subsurface structures and earthquakes from Campi Flegrei’s two most recent periods of unrest. Characterized by land uplift and burst-like shaking, accompanied by rumbling sounds that have become a signature feature for the population, scientists suspect this activity signals steam-driven explosions, triggered when liquid water rapidly flashes to steam during fracturing caused by earthquakes. The study includes data from the unrest of 1982-1984 and 2011-2024.

“We have been looking at something that occurred decades apart, but there are profound similarities in the imaging, which point not only to a cyclical pattern of the phenomenon but also to a common underlying cause,” said co-author Grazia De Landro, a researcher at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and visiting scholar at Stanford. “From there started the idea to work together, especially looking at rock physics. Using rock physics is the only way to say something quantitative about the imaging of the subsurface.”

The Campi Flegrei volcanic area hosts a capped geothermal reservoir beneath the town of Pozzuoli, west of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. The area has been continuously monitored since the unrest in 1982-1984, when the land rose more than 6 feet and Pozzuoli’s harbor became so shallow that ships could no longer dock. After that, a magnitude-4 earthquake and thousands of microquakes prompted the evacuation of 40,000 people from Pozzuoli.

“It’s been a challenge for the last three years. Many buildings have been damaged by the continuous shaking, and some people don’t have homes,” said Vanorio, who grew up in Pozzuoli and was forced to evacuate in the 1980s. “This project is my goal as a citizen now, not just as a geophysicist, because the study suggests that unrest can be managed, rather than just monitored, opening the way to prevention.”

Land that ‘breathes’
Campi Flegrei is an 8-mile-wide caldera, a vast depression formed by major eruptions about 39,000 and 15,000 years ago, which caused the collapse of Earth’s surface. The caldera experiences uplift and subsidence, with the land rising and sinking, even without an eruption. After the unrest in 1982-1984, the area sank by about 3 feet. For subsidence to occur, mass must be released from the subsurface, which can include magma, water, vapor, and carbon dioxide.

Residents of Pozzuoli note the way the caldera “breathes,” emitting fumes and moving the ground, sometimes meters up or down over a short time.

quote:

Op vrijdag 31 juli 2026 20:43 schreef Perrin het volgende:
Forse beving bij Campi Flegrei.

[ x ]

The big one is coming?

quote:

#CampiFlegrei: uit de eerste beelden die circuleren lijkt het erop dat een groot deel van de belangrijkste schade is veroorzaakt door het instorten van de rotswanden die een groot deel van de kraters van de caldera omringen.

quote:

? BRAKING NIEUWS: helaas zoals te verwachten zijn er aanzienlijke schade aan de #CampiFlegrei na de zeer krachtige #terremoto van M 4.7 die iets ten noorden van de Solfatara plaatsvond op een diepte van slechts 2,6 km.

Sommige gebouwen zijn ingestort en in sommige gebieden is de stroom uitgevallen

quote:

Op zaterdag 1 augustus 2026 09:53 schreef Basp1 het volgende:
Bekijk deze YouTube-video

Een intersant filmpje van 2 weken terug over de sluiting van een treintunnel daar vanwege co2 uitstoot daar. En wat meer uitleg over die caldera.

quote:

Op zaterdag 1 augustus 2026 07:13 schreef Perrin het volgende:
RIP Napels.

quote:

Op zondag 2 augustus 2026 23:02 schreef Mike-The-Situation het volgende:
Blijft gek want ik zit tussen Salerno en Paestum en heb er helemaal niks van gemerkt.