Supervolcano dubbed ‘next Vesuvius’ is ‘dangerous’ and ‘near breaking point’

SCIENTISTS have expressed fear over a supervolcano in Europe on the brink of a dangerous eruption.

The volcano, dubbed Campi Flegrei, is located in Pozzuoli in southern Italy.

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Campi Flegrei has been dormant since around 1538 – when it last spewed lava, rocks, and ash.

And its eruption nearly 30,000 years ago may have led to the extinction of Neanderthals.

Now, experts are worried the supervolcano might soon erupt once more, according to a new study.

The findings, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, found that the volcano is extremely dangerous.

“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,” the study read.

“We predicted in 2016 that the approach to rupture would continue after an additional uplift of 30-40 cm at the location of the largest movement… subsequent events have confirmed our prediction and that [earthquakes have] been changing the structure of Campi Flegrei’s crust,” it continued.

Basically, tens of thousands of small earthquakes have occurred since the 1950s, weakening the basin at the top of the volcano.

Couple this with the fact that around half a million people live in the volcano’s immediate vicinity and you have a bad scenario, the Guardian reported.

“We’re not saying there will be an eruption, we are saying that the conditions for an eruption are more favorable,” Christopher Kilburn from University College London told AFP.

In fact, the study has found “parts of the volcano had been stretched nearly to breaking point.”

“An eventual eruption could be preceded by relatively weak signals, such as a smaller rate of ground uplift and fewer earthquakes,” one of the study’s authors told the Guardian.

Thankfully, the probability of a big eruption occurring is low, study co-author Stefano Carlino told AFP.

However, Carlino did note that smaller eruptions are still likely.

“We cannot say with certainty what will happen, what matters is being prepared for any eventuality,” he added.

There are evacuation plans in place should the volcano one day erupt, and the alert levels are monitored monthly.

“The alert level in Pozzuoli is currently yellow,” council spokesperson Giordana Mobilio told AFP.

She added that locals get notifications for all tremors with a magnitude of 1.5 or above.

Campi Flegrei is around 56 minutes away from its more famous neighbor, Vesuvius, which was responsible for the destruction of Pompeii.