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A wave of 150 earthquakes rocked the Campi Flegrei vent near Naples last week — the biggest swarm in four decennium .
The seismal swarm begin May 20 just before 8 p.m. local time ( 2 p.m. ET ) , which included a magnitude 4.4 quake registered at a depth of 1.6 Admiralty mile ( 2.5 kilometers ) below the surface , experts write in astatement . The drove last almost 5 minute , sparking panic among resident in nearby towns , but there were no reported injuries .
A view of the Solfatara crater, part of the Campi Flegrei volcano in Pozzuoli. Growing tremors, including last week’s 4.4 magnitude earthquake, have frightened half a million residents living in this dangerous area.
Thirty nine fellowship were temporarily evacuate from their rest home , and small microseism were still being palpate around lunchtime May 21 , Al Jazeerareported .
" This is the most powerful seismal swarm in the last 40 years,“Mauro Antonio Di Vito , a volcanologist and director of Italy ’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology ( INGV ) Vesuvius Observatory , told the news channel .
Campi Flegrei is Europe ’s largest combat-ready caldera , and the volcano isshowing signs it could be creeping toward an eruption . A caldera isa type of craterthat forms when the roof of a vent give into the magma chamber as it empties during an clap . Campi Flegrei last erupt in 1538 ; in the months prior to that blast , the groundswelled and rise by 66 feet(20 meters ) , then settle again as the volcano eject its depot of magma .
Seismic events recorded between 00:00 CET May 20, 2024, and 00:31 CET May 21. The event of greatest magnitude (4.4) was recorded at 20:10 on May 20.
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The ground beneath Pozzuoli , a town located near the heart and soul of the caldera , has been rise for the past 20 years , Christopher Kilburn , a prof of vulcanology and geophysical hazards at University College London in the U.K. , severalize Live Science in an interview in December 2023 . temporary patterns of seismicity started to pick up about 10 years ago and have been increasing ever since , Kilburn said .
Similar patterns of swelling and seismal activity , known as bradyseismic crises , go on in the 1970s and 1980s . Between 1982 and 1984 , the soil in the Campi Flegrei area rose at a pace of 3.5 inch ( 9 centimeters ) per month , actuate more than 1,300 earthquakes per month , agree to the INGV statement .
" Most of them were too small to be feel , but they started to get great ones , which the population could feel and promote the alarm , " Kilburn say . " And then everything stop . "
The ground did not settle back to pre - crisis levels in the seventies and 1980s , mean every bit of uplift stretch Earth ’s crust further . " Each crisis bulge where the late one end up , " Kilburn suppose .
The land is currently lifting at a charge per unit of 0.8 column inch ( 2 cm ) per month , according to the statement , and there has been no change in this rate since last week ’s seismal horde . Around 450 earthquakes have been recorded in the last calendar month , compared with 1,252 quakes in April 2024 — most of which had a magnitude of less than 1,according to CNN . temperature and flow of carbon dioxide measured at the airfoil of Campi Flegrei also show no significant change compared with recent calendar month .
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The reason for the swelling persist undecipherable . " There is some debate about whether that ’s really accumulation of gas , accretion of magma , or the hydrothermal system is being disturbed , " Kilburn say . Whatever the precise cause , " if you dilute something for long enough , it ’s going to break somewhere . "
Experts told the news channel that the volcano is unlikely to burst any time soon .
