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Italy is well known for its geographical beauty and diversity, but part of the charm of living in Italy, or on its numerous islands, is the danger that is ever present. Residents living in the shadow of Europe’s only active volcanoes go about their daily lives in spite of the looming possibility of peril.
Continuous eruptions of Mount Etna are a danger to Catania and other small towns on its slopes. | ADOBE STOCK
The active volcanoes are the results of Italy’s location within a tectonic belt which is referred to as the ring of fire. It is also prone to earthquakes due to the shifting movement of tectonic plates down the spine of the country. The country has a lengthy history of destructive earthquakes and is one of the most seismically active in Europe.
Italy has four active volcanoes which have erupted within the past 150 years and 10 that have previously erupted but are currently dormant. The best known is Mount Vesuvius whose eruption of 79 A.D. placed it in the history books, and which last erupted in 1944.
Then there is Mount Etna in Sicily, which has been in continuous eruption. Etna is the highest volcano in Europe to the west of the Urals. Its most current eruptions were in August (as of this writing) disrupting flights and leaving towns covered in ash. My first view of the volcano years ago filled me with a sense of awe but also a bit of fear. However, like the locals I soon grew accustomed to its eruptions which left just ashes in the streets and on the cars where we visited.
The Solfaterra crater of Pozzuoli with a view of the city in the background. | ADOBE STOCK
I visited many of the towns on the slopes of the volcano and saw the destruction it had caused and heard the miracles that locals attributed to their survival. It was always a highlight to head to the small town of Castelmola above Taormina, in the province of Messina, and to watch streams of lava flowing down the mountain in the distance while we ate at a local trattoria.
Two years ago, I traveled near the summit and was expecting a barren wasteland but was astounded to see groves of green trees which had grown back among the lava fields. Plumes of white smoke were coming out of nearby vents, but Etna was quiet that day.
Stromboli, a small island north of Sicily, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and famous for its normally small, but routine explosions throwing out glowing lava from several vents inside its crater. This activity has been going on for at least 2,000 years, as recorded by written documents. Stromboli was named after its so-called strombolian activity. This refers to the ejection of luminous cinders, droplets of lava which are still partly molten when they fall to earth, and volcanic bombs, which can reach altitudes of hundreds of meters. Years ago, while taking a ferry from Salerno to Messina Sicily, I had a close-up view of the glowing lava shining through the early morning mist as we passed the island.
Macellum of Pozzuoli, the column-studded ruins of an ancient market, have risen and fallen as volcanic activity has alternately lifted or depressed the earth beneath its foundations. | Wikimedia photo by Norbert Nagel
Then there is Vulcano, on the island of the same name, which is part of the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily. This last erupted between 1888 and 1890. Visitors and residents on the island can still feel its effects while bathing in the sulfur pits known for their therapeutic effects. One also needs to be careful in certain areas of the sea which have hot spots bubbling up amid the water. Nearby is the volcano Vulcanello which has been dormant since the 16th century. There was also volcanic activity on the nearby island of Lipari that last took place around 1,400 years ago. While there are no recent eruptions there are still thermal springs and but there are still hot sulfurous gases emerging from the area.
Similar to Lipari, a volcano on the island of Pantelleria, located close to the coast of Africa, last erupted around 1,000 B.C. and a volcano on the island of Ischia last erupted in 1302. And near Rome, Monte Albano (south of Rome) erupted around 34,000 B.C and Sabatini (north of Rome) last erupted around 70,000 B.C. There are also three underwater volcanoes, Marsili and Palinuro in the Tyrrhenian Sea and Isola Ferdinandea in the Straight of Messina which are all considered active.
Aerial view of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944 photographed by Jack Reinhardt, B-24 tail gunner in the U..S. Army Air Force during World War II. | Wikimedia photo
The people living in the shadow of Vesuvius and areas around Naples are now facing the threat of new volcanic activity from Campi Flegrei, the Phlegraean Fields, a huge caldera encompassing the western area of Naples. The Phlegraean Fields are capable of producing violent eruptions, which has earned them the title of super volcano. The caldera was formed after a major eruption led to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano.
The Phlegraean Fields, which Romans believed were an entrance to hell, is an area consisting of the Naples districts of Agnano and Fuorigrotta, the area of Pozzuoli, Bacoli, Monte di Procida, Quarto, the Phlegraean Islands, Ischia, Procida and Vivara. Over 500,000 people live in what Italy’s civil protection agency has designated a “red zone” with 18 towns at the highest risk if an eruption would occur. There are also 3 million residents of Naples who live in the immediate vicinity outside the eastern edge of the crater’s mouth.
This super volcano last erupted in 1538, generating a small tuff (or ash) cone named Monte Nuovo (new mountain) Recent seismic activity has raised concerns that this 8-mile-wide volcano, consisting of 24 craters, most of them submerged under the Bay of Naples, could be about to erupt again.
Several geophysicists have explained that while super volcanoes are capable of large explosions most of them are smaller eruptions with less violent lava flows. Others have warned that if it follows previous massive eruptions, it could spew molten rock and gases high into the atmosphere, produce tsunamis and spread plumes of toxic ash and sulfur far enough to cause a global winter. These are findings written in the journal Communications Earth and Environment on June 9, 2023.
In Pozzuoli, this new cycle of volcanic earthquakes which includes measured uplifts of the ground has concerned officials and residents alike. Between 1982-1984 the caldera, a crater formed by the collapse expanded approximately six feet raising the seafloor reduced Pozzuoli’s harbor and ships could no longer enter. This has continued to occur over the years, but the concern now is that it is happening in shorter time frames. It is happening again in the harbor along with a rise from the earth of over two-thousand-year-old ruins.
In late July of this year a swarm of earthquakes with a 4.0 magnitude quake was widely felt in the area. The activity is being monitored carefully by the Vesuvius Observatory and evacuation plans are in place. These were last updated in October 2023 and call for evacuating half a million people over a 72-hour period of time on roads many locals fear aren’t equipped to handle the traffic.
In 2023 Campi Flegrei recorded more than 3,450 earthquakes, 1,118 of which occurred in August alone. There is no indication of a sudden rise in magma that could signal an imminent eruption. In May 2023 tourists, residents and the inmates of a women’s prison were moved to temporary shelter in the seaside town of Pozzuoli so officials could better prepare for evacuation. Many residents, then and in the months after, have sustained damage to their homes and businesses from aftershocks and they too have been displaced.
Despite all the recent seismic activity, scientists say a new eruption is unlikely to happen in the near future, but officials want to be prepared. However, Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, a senior researcher with Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is now publicly calling out the agency with a claim the danger is not being taken seriously.
In all these areas near or on the slopes of Italy’s active volcanoes people must go about their daily lives. Many have chosen to live near or on the slopes of volcanoes because of the fertile land and others have lived there for generations and could not imagine moving.
Some have emergency bags packed and ready to go and others could not imagine leaving their homes. One resident of Pozzuoli, Rossana Maurelli, 56, stated her family business, which sells ceramics, has had a drop in sales of over 60 percent. She recognizes the danger but can’t imagine ever leaving Pozzuoli. “We’re so in love with our land,” she said in an interview reported in The Washington Post on Aug. 24.
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