'Supervolcano' on brink of eruption after 500 years as evacuation plans put in place

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Italian authorities are putting an action plan together as a supervolcano in the region is on the brink of eruption for the first time in almost 500 years.Evacuation plans for 10,000 locals in Campi Flegrei near Naples, Italy have been put in place after a 4.0 magnitude earthquake shook the region.

The "supervolcano" has been “restless” since the 50s but the last significant eruption was back in 1538. Researchers believe that an eruption over 39,000 years ago may have led to the extinction of Neanderthal man report the Mirror.Volcanic activity has been on the rise since 2022, as have earthquakes, with the strongest in 40 years taking place in September.After another 4.0 quake happened on October 2, experts are now worried about the supervolcano exploding.

There has been no solid prediction about when or if the supervolcano could erupt, but plans to evacuate are leading many in the area to panic about what the future could hold when it does.Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said that evacuations would only happen in cases of “extreme necessity”, but confirmed that plans had been drawn up in case it does happen."It was reported in April that 600 earthquakes took place just that month, with local man Francesco Cammarota explaining: “Some days there are more than one.

It’s frightening, especially at night. One day it will just go off.”Mauro Antonio Di Vito, the directory of the Vesuvius Observatory warned of the real dangers should the worst happen.