Campi Flegrei, one of the most dangerous supervolcanoes in the world was seen to have symptoms that made scientists conclude that it might be in its critical stage already. The supervolcano had been resting since its last eruption, but a study found out that it is actually building up energy in its crust.
According to News Week, Campi Flegrei had been showing signs over the past 67 years. However, it is already seen that those signs shown meant that the supervolcano is building up energy over the past few years and might not hold on any longer. The supervolcano Campi Flegrei was then described to be located in southern Italy which is about 9 miles to the west of Naples.
Campi Flegrei was described to have 24 craters and edifices which make it in the list of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes. The last eruption of the supervolcano was identified to happen in 1538. The eruption was identified to be a “mega-colossal” type which is compared to that of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
With that said, Science Daily reported that a study published in the journal Nature Communications have been using a Campi Flegrei model made by the UCL to study its possible eruption. The supervolcano was seen to have an energy built up in its crust since the 1950s which make it more susceptible to eruption.
The researchers then thought the general idea that the energy needed to stretch the crust would disappear after periods of unrest. However, the Campi Flegrei was seen to follow the symptoms that the researchers have seen in the previous Rabaul in Papua New Guinea, El Hierro in the Canary Islands, and Soufriere Hills on Montserrat in the Caribbean.
Yet, the scientists concluded that they really don’t know whether if long-term unrest might really cause the supervolcano to erupt. “We are getting closer to forecasting eruptions at volcanoes that have been quiet for generations by using detailed physical models to understand how the preceding unrest develops."
Nonetheless, study co-author Professor Giuseppe De Natale, former Director of the Vesuvius Observatory announced that people should still prepare for any amount of local seismicity that the Campi Flegrei eruption might result in. He also stated that the possible eruption would affect 360,000 people living across the caldera along with the one million population in Naples.
