Important Takeaways:
- A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the volcanic area around Naples overnight, causing several light injuries, damaging buildings and sending terrified residents into the streets, officials said on Thursday.
- The quake, which was followed by several much smaller tremors, was the biggest to hit the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) area in southern Italy for 10 months. It occurred around 1:25am at a depth of 2.5 kilometers, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), and raised residents from their beds.
- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was constantly monitoring the situation and was in contact with the relevant officials.
- Seismic activity is nothing new in the area, which is an active caldera — the hollow left after an eruption — the largest in Europe. It stretches from the outskirts of Naples into the sea, measuring some 12 by 15km.
- But many of the 500,000 inhabitants living in the danger zone had already been spooked by a 4.4-magnitude quake in May 2024, which was the biggest for 40 years. At that time, there were no injuries or any major structural damage.
- Naples mayor Manfredi told RTL Radio that Thursday’s quake was a “particularly intense tremor”, similar to that of last year but “with an epicenter closer to the city of Naples, so it was felt more in the city”.
- A resurgence of seismic activity in the early 1980s led to a mass evacuation, which reduced the nearby city of Pozzuoli to a ghost town. Specialists, however, say a full-blown eruption in the near future remains unlikely.
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Important Takeaways:
- Seismologists, volcanologists, and officials from Naples are racing against the clock as they implement school closures, set up emergency shelters, and plan evacuation routes for residents living within the region’s Campi Flegiri area, also known as the Phlegraean Fields, after over 600 earthquakes have been recorded since Saturday, with magnitudes ranging from M2.0 to M3.9; the most and the strongest the region has seen in 40 years.
- According to INGV, “the ongoing earthquake swarm is linked to bradyseism, a geological phenomenon in which ground levels rise or fall because of underground magma or hydrothermal activity.”
- CCTV footage located within residential homes and along city streets showed the intense shaking caused by the mega earthquake swarm; the strong tremors felt in Naples city center. According to reports, structural damage and power outages have been reported throughout the area affected by the earthquake swarm since its conception, prompting officials to monitor the seismic swarm with a watchful eye.
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Important Takeaways:
- Eruptions at Italy’s Mount Etna and the smaller Stromboli volcano spewed hot ash and lava, raising alert levels on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and forcing a temporary shutdown of Catania Airport on Friday.
- Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has seen intense activity in recent days, lighting up the sky near the city of Catania, while Stromboli off the northern Sicilian coast has spilled lava into the sea.
- Italy’s civil protection agency issued its top, red alert for Stromboli, warning the situation could deteriorate.
- The fire brigade said they had preemptively doubled the number of firefighters on the island.
- Around Catania, on the eastern coast of Sicily, residents and authorities moved to clean up the city after streets and cars were left smothered in black volcanic ash, while the nearby airport was closed.
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Important Takeaways:
- Earthquake hits volcanic crater near Naples: Strongest tremor to hit region in decades sparks panic, with buildings damaged
- The strongest earthquakes in decades were registered at a volcanic caldera near the southern Italian city of Naples on Monday night, sending panicked residents flocking into the streets.
- One 4.4-magnitude quake was registered shortly after 8pm (1800 GMT) at a depth of 1.6 miles, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
- It was preceded moments earlier by a 3.5-magnitude tremor and followed by dozens of aftershocks.
- The Campi Flegrei – or Phlegraean Fields, as the caldera is known – experienced about 150 earthquakes between 7:51pm on Monday and 12:31am on Tuesday, the INGV said in a report.
- According to the institute’s Mauro Di Vito, ‘this is the most powerful seismic swarm in the last 40 years’.
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Important Takeaways:
- France, Germany and Italy called for the European Union to set up a special sanctions scheme to target Hamas as EU foreign ministers met on Monday to consider possible next steps in response to the Middle East crisis.
- In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the foreign ministers of the bloc’s three biggest countries said it was important the EU take “all necessary measures against the terrorist group Hamas and its supporters”.
- Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist organization, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen.
- The EU said on Friday it had added Mohammed Deif, Commander General of the military wing of Hamas, and his deputy, Marwan Issa, to its list of terrorists under sanction.
- Some suggested a decision last week by the United States, Israel’s biggest backer, to start imposing visa bans on people involved in violence in the West Bank could encourage EU countries to take similar steps.
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Important Takeaways:
- ‘Be prepared for all outcomes’: Inside the saga of a supervolcano that’s waking up
- The most dangerous volcanic threat in Italy right now is one you’ve probably never heard of: Campi Flegrei, or the Phlegraean Fields.
- More than 500,000 of the locals live in what Italy’s civil protection agency has deemed a “red zone,” an area encompassing 18 towns that’s at highest risk in the event of an eruption. An additional 3 million residents of Naples live immediately outside the eastern edge of the caldera, according to the civil protection agency.
- Seismic activity in the area has been intensifying since December of 2022
- The entire volcanic zone is also experiencing a surge in earthquakes that has rattled nerves and sent residents seeking safety out into the streets.
- So far in 2023 Campi Flegrei has recorded more than 3,450 earthquakes, 1,118 of which occurred in August alone. This is more than triple the previous year’s total, according to INGV’s data. More than 500 earthquakes occurred in October, the strongest of which hit 4.0 magnitude, followed by a dozen aftershocks.
- “We can’t yet say for sure what will happen. The important point is to be prepared for all outcomes.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Swarm of quakes besets Italian town as super volcano rumbles
- Over the past weeks the government has been planning for a possible mass evacuation of tens of thousands of people who live around the vast volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, from the ancient Greek word for burning.
- Sulphurous fumes escape from the surface, giving the area a surreal look and making it a magnet for tourists
- Residents have become used to the smell, the fumes and the trembling. There were more than a thousand quakes in September, most of them minor.
- But a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 27, the strongest jolt in more than 40 years to rattle the volcanic field, sparked fears that what scientists call a “seismic crisis” may be underway for the first time since the early 1980s
- “Even those small ones (quakes) make us afraid,” she said. “We are worried because (we are supposed to) run away. But where do we go? Where? This is the situation. We’re on edge.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Earthquakes hit Italy super volcano, raising specter of evacuations
- A leading volcanologist has warned that mass evacuations might be needed in a town close to Naples, which sits on a so-called Super Volcano that has been hit by hundreds of small earthquakes in recent weeks.
- A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck the area early on Wednesday, the strongest jolt in 40 years to rattle the volcanic field, known as the Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields from the Greek word for burning.
- CampiFlegrei sits across the bay of Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. However, it is a much bigger volcano than Vesuvius and if it ever exploded at full force could kill millions.
- Experts say there is no imminent threat of an eruption, but Giuseppe De Natale, the former head of the Vesuvius observatory at the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), called for urgent checks on buildings after repeated seismic activity that is pushing up the ground by 1.5 cm (0.59 inches) a month.
- The Campi Flegrei are similar to the Yellowstone caldera in the U.S. state of Wyoming but of more concern because they are in an area populated by around 3 million people in the Naples hinterland.
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Important Takeaways:
- Satellites show Mount Etna volcano erupt after weeks of puffing out smoke rings
- The eruption, which also produced spectacular geysers of lava, posed no risk to residents of Sicily, but forced local authorities to close a local airport due to high concentrations of abrasive volcanic ash in the air. Volcanic ash, which contains particles of molten rock, could damage aircraft engines and is considered a major risk for aviation
- Italy’s Civil Protection Department triggered a yellow, moderate, warning for Etna’s activity. Despite being known for its frequent outbursts, the volcano isn’t usually dangerous according to the Department, as its lava rivers flow slowly and require a lot of time to reach surrounding settlements. The volcanic ash, however, could cause a lengthy disruption to air travel and substantially worsen air quality in the Mediterranean region.
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Important Takeaways:
- Italy’s Mount Etna spews out lava and blows out smoke rings in first eruption since 1992 – bringing Sicily’s Catania airport to a close and suspending flights
- Italy’s Mount Etna has brought planes leaving the Sicilian city of Catania to a standstill after it was captured spewing hot lava and ash overnight.
- The airport, which sits on the east of the Mediterranean island just 30 miles south of the volcano, said that flights to and from the hub would be suspended until at least 8 pm local time tonight.
- The volcano was seen blowing smoke rings out of its crater as early as last Thursday.
- The eruption, which is the first seen from Mount Etna since 1992, saw lava flow until just before dawn, though ash is still coming out of one of its craters.
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