Residents of the Phlegrean Fields volcanic area near Naples on Tuesday demanded measures to secure their homes after a series of earthquakes that did not cause major damage or casualties, but sparked a wave of panic.
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“I am afraid. I opened my shop this morning, but there is no one there, and people are afraid,” Gaetano Maddalono, a 56-year-old hairdresser and resident of the coastal city of Pozzuoli, told AFP on Tuesday. “Building controls are essential,” he adds.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said that since Monday evening, “about 150 earthquakes have been recorded” in this region, where half a million people live.
A 4.4-magnitude tremor was measured by INGV, the “most violent” since the beginning of the current period of seismic resurgence in 2005, and the phenomenon, described by seismologists as a “seismic swarm,” is “the most powerful in the past 40 years.”
Many residents of Pozzuoli and the surrounding towns fled their homes after these tremors, which caused minor damage to buildings.
An employee at Diego Vitaliano's pizzeria in Pozzuoli told AFP: “We were very afraid, even if people are used to” earthquakes.
“There were a lot of children and most of the customers had left,” she added, referring to “many families in the streets” once the restaurant closed.
France Press agency
“In-depth examinations”
The earthquakes were also felt by residents of Naples.
The mayor of the capital of Campania, Gaetano Manfredi, announced during a press conference the launch of “comprehensive controls on all public structures (…) starting with schools.” He added that no major damage had been observed so far.
Michele De Bari, prefect of Pozzuoli Prison, said that the 140 prisoners in Pozzuoli Prison were transferred, as a precaution, to Naples, awaiting the results of the examination of the walls.
Local residents are demanding that these checks be carried out as soon as possible on private homes as well.
“We have to live with fear all the time,” a resident of Pozzuoli testified on Monday evening on the public channel Renews. “How long will the buildings be able to withstand when they are exposed to all these shocks? (…) They are not prepared to absorb much.”
Nila Apria, also a hairdresser in Pozzuoli, believes that if “action plans are planned” to inspect and integrate the buildings, “the means will not be enough.” “My living room has never been searched,” the 55-year-old says sadly.
“living with”
Terrified residents spent the night in makeshift buildings and tents set up by civil protection in Pozzuoli and Baccoli, where they received water and food packages from the Red Cross.
France Press agency
The mayor of Naples confirmed that the situation is “under control” despite the risk of aftershocks. He warned that “we will probably have to live for many more months” with this seismic situation, but for now “there is no risk of a volcanic eruption.”
The volcano, which extends over a circumference of 15 x 12 km, has a typical flat-bottomed depression left after an eruption. This is the largest active caldera (“cauldron” in Spanish) in Europe, located on the border of Naples and Pozzuoli by the sea.
In this area, the Phlegrean fields obscure the nearby Vesuvius River, which dominates the Gulf of Naples and whose eruption wiped Pompeii from the map in 79.
On the green champagnes, there is no explosion of 40,000 people that affects the climate of the plan, including rivers and scientists in the area of \u200b\u200bthe operation of the son's activity due to gas emissions from the magma and font pressure on the surface of the earth. .
However, according to INGV, the speed at which the Earth is rising – two centimeters per month – has not changed at the moment. The institute confirms that “during the seismic crisis in 1982-1984, the ground rose nine centimeters per month.”
The institute said at the time, “We recorded more than 1,300 tremors per month,” compared to “450” recorded during the past month.
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