Italian city of Naples appears to be waking
up—and nearing a critical pressure
point that could spell catastrophe for a
half-million people in the region. Known as
Campi Flegrei, or “the burning fields,” the
8-mile-wide caldera formed 39,000 years
ago during Europe’s largest volcanic eruption
in 200,000 years, an event that likely
triggered a “volcanic winter,” which some
researchers believe led to the demise of
the Neanderthals. The supervolcano (a
volcano that can spew at least 240 cubic
miles of lava and other ejecta in a single
eruption and is vastly larger than typical
volcanos) hasn’t blown since 1538, and
that was a relatively small event. But now,
researchers warn, the magma under Campi
Flegrei is degassing, releasing fluids and
gases at a rate that could destabilize the
surrounding rocks, resulting in an eruption.
“Hydrothermal rocks, if heated, can
ultimately lose their mechanical resistance,
causing an acceleration toward critical
conditions,” volcanologist Giovanni
Chiodini of the Italian National Institute of
Geophysics in Rome tells Agence France-
Presse. That doesn’t mean Neapolitans
should panic and flee the city—it’s impossible
to predict when, or even if, their
supervolcano will erupt again.