Wanted in RomeMagazine Situated less than 10 km from the southern Italian city of Naples a densely populated metropolitan area home to more than three million people Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe The volcano is currently in a phase of “active rest” and it is constantly monitored to detect any significant variation in its activity Part of a large volcanic area that formed almost two million years ago meaning it has the potential for explosive stratovolcanoes like Vesuvius can generate violent explosions The next eruption of Vesuvius would most likely be an "explosive eruption of medium-low energy", according to Italy's civil protection department marked by low-energy effusive and explosive activity killing 21 people dead and partially destroying the towns of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio and Massa di Somma While this event was significant, it was relatively minor compared to earlier eruptions - particularly the catastrophic 1631 eruption which covered Naples in ash and led to thousands of deaths while modern technology can detect warning signs the task of predicting the exact timing and scale of an eruption remains a challenge The immediate impact of a Vesuvius eruption the scale of devastation would depend on several factors the wind direction and the response time of emergency services Even a moderate eruption could significantly impact Naples and its surroundings while a large-scale eruption could have consequences reaching across Europe and beyond While the most likely type of explosive eruption at Vesuvius will be of medium-low energy as a safety measure the civil protection department's emergency plans refer to a medium energy eruption scenario Even if pyroclastic flows remain limited to the immediate area volcanic ash could spread across southern Italy and beyond The effects of heavy ashfall would include: Another dangerous possible consequence of a major eruption is a tsunami in the Bay of Naples This has happened in past eruptions and could threaten coastal cities and towns, including Sorrento, Amalfi and Positano disrupting ports and sea routes in the Mediterranean Vesuvius is not the only volcanic threat to Naples a highly seismic area with the potential for an even greater disaster made up of 24 craters and several active fumaroles The largest active urbanised caldera in the heart of the European continent, Campi Flegrei last erupted in 1538, creating Monte Nuovo, according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) which monitors the caldera closely. Experts believe the recent spike in seismic activity at Campi Flegrei is linked to bradyseism, a phenomenon that involves the gradual uplift or descent of part of the earth's surface, caused by the filling or emptying of underground magma chambers or hydrothermal activity. In response to a "sensational" documentary in 2024 that represented a doomsday scenario for Campi Flegrei, followed by "alarmist" media reports, the INGV said that based on the scientific data available at the time there was "no evidence of the imminence of a volcanic eruption The two most devastating eruptions in Campi Flegrei occurred about 40,000 years ago and about 15,000 years ago when tens to hundreds of cubic km of magma erupted in a single event INGV experts stressed that none of the 70 eruptions that have occurred in the area in the last 15,000 years come "even remotely close" to such devastating events as outlined in the documentary The INGV said that the probability that the next eruption will be of a similar force as the one 15,000 years ago is "very low" and that in order for such an large-scale eruption to occur it would require an enormous amount of magma whose entry into the system would be detected by the monitoring system What would happen if Campi Flegrei erupted A major Campi Flegrei eruption could cover Naples and surrounding areas in ash trigger earthquakes and landslides throughout southern Italy as well as cause widespread air pollution and acid rain Following the 4.4-magnitude earthquake in Campi Flegrei on 13 March 2025 said: "For the moment we are at another step of intensification of the bradyseismic process like what happened in August 2023 and May 2024 but for now no type of process that gives us a sign of imminent eruption for this to happen magma must rise to the surface and this is not happening.” Italy has emergency plans, including for the mass evacuation of people living in the areas of Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei particularly residents in the high-risk red zones Italy's public warning system IT-alert broadcasts useful information to cell phones in a given geographical area in the event of imminent or ongoing serious emergencies or disasters including an upcoming eruption at Vesuvius or Campi Flegrei Both Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei are monitored very closely, however Naples remains one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to volcanic disaster Wanted in Rome ™ is member of the Wanted World Wide Ltd network.Click here to find out more about our Network or Follow us on social networks © 2025 / 2026 Wanted World Wide LTD Network seven months after the Allied invasion of Italy Italy — a Neapolitan village on the western slopes of Mount Vesuvius — had already endured much misery: dictatorial rule this one a natural disaster that would destroy their town On March 17, Mount Vesuvius began an eruption that, over the ensuing week and a half, rained down rocks the size of basketballs, covered some areas with up to a meter of ash, and released a slow-moving wall of volcanic rock, lava and debris that crushed and burned everything in its path. U.S. newsreels recorded the eruption and the evacuation of San Sebastiano’s residents piled household goods and belongings onto wagons as lava advanced toward the village It was the worst eruption of the volcano since 1872 the most famous eruption in the volcano’s long history occurred in A.D Vesuvius unleashed voluminous clouds of hot gas and ash along with rock and pyroclastic flows that entombed Herculaneum and Pompeii except for several flank collapses inside the caldera that have raised false alarms of an impending eruption But living with a quiescent volcano is still hazardous ash deposits from previous eruptions turned into debris flows near the town of Sarno that can be traversed by a pyroclastic flow in about two and a half minutes A hardened lava stream from the 1944 eruption But even Vesuvius does not always have Vesuvian eruptions. Between A.D. 79 and 1944, Vesuvius experienced 27 significant eruptions combining flowing lava with violent expulsions of rock and ash including one in 1855 that sent a lava flow into San Sebastiano The last explosive eruption of Vesuvius occurred on Aug ejecting lava fountains up to a kilometer above the crater The 1944 eruption ejected 0.01 cubic kilometers of material, ranking it a 3 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index which ranges from zero to 8 and is based largely on the volume of ejecta A VEI-4 eruption of Vesuvius in 1631 ejected 0.2 to 1.1 cubic kilometers of material some of which fell 1,200 kilometers away in Constantinople (now Istanbul founded in 1841 by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon is the oldest volcanological observatory in the world Vesuvius sputtered to life again in early 1944 belching smoke and cinders and emitting lava within the caldera; it first sent lava flowing down the western slopes toward Naples on March 17 tephra and volcanic bombs were ejected from the crater The sound was exactly like artillery fire," a New York Times writer who was perhaps more accustomed to covering the war noted on March 20 he described the lava’s assault from the town of Cercola: “Smashing through San Sebastiano and Massa di Somma on a broadening the Vesuvian lava flow tonight had resulted in the evacuation of this town of 7,000 two miles to the northwest.” After the Allied invasion of Italy in the fall of 1943 and British forces had advanced north from the beachheads at Salerno and taken Naples and the surrounding countryside but fighting continued in the north military that took command of public safety and the evacuations An analysis in the January 2007 Journal of Historical Geography concluded that “despite all the problems of wartime management of the emergency by Allied Control Commission was both impressive at the time and holds important lessons about the manner in which eruptions may be handled in the future.” cleanup and much of the rebuilding of the villages struck by Vesuvius The paper also notes that despite the chaos and confusion director of the Royal Vesuvius Observatory Imbò’s work is also mentioned in the March 20 New York Times article which describes the “green-trousered and excitable little professor” who maintained an office in the observatory “halfway to the crater” as having “crawled in the darkness to the edge of the lava stream” the night before the Times reported that the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III visited San Sebastiano and “chatted in English 45 minutes” with the Allied Military Government public safety officer who had been superintendent of the New York State Police before the war “The King’s arrival was a surprise to Col Warner and the handful of Italians left in the southern fringe of the town which the lava flow entered Monday night [March 19] and destroyed yesterday.” The eruption destroyed dozens of B-25 bombers of the U.S Army Air Force's 340th Bombardment Group stationed at Pompeii Airfield On the other side of the volcano from San Sebastiano, at Pompeii Airfield in Poggiomarino, a few kilometers east of the base of Vesuvius near the town of Terzigno, the U.S. Army Air Force’s 340th Bombardment Group at first thought they would not need to evacuate. The unit’s experiences with Vesuvius are described in a series of diary entries written by Sgt he wrote: “As I sit in my tent … I can hear at four- to 10-second intervals the loud rumbling of the volcano on the third day of its present eruption The noise is like that of bowling balls slapping into the pins on a giant bowling alley one would think that the world was on fire The thickly clouded sky glows like that above a huge forest fire Glowing brighter as new spouts of flame and lava are spewn from the crater As the clouds pass from across the top of the mountain the flame and lava can be seen shooting high into the sky to spill over the sides and run in red streams down the slopes … Today it is estimated that a path of molten lava 1 mile long and 8 feet deep is rolling down the mountain Towns on the slopes are preparing to evacuate Lava has not started to flow down this side of the mountain as yet but is flowing on the other side toward Naples.” But their luck would soon change — something for which the unit was known The unit’s unlucky reputation — famously noted in the 1961 novel “Catch-22” by author Joseph Heller (who joined the 340th as a B-25 bombardier in May 1944 on Corsica where the unit was relocated after the eruption) — was based largely on the high fatality rates for bomber crews But it was also exacerbated by its encounter with Vesuvius being just 12 kilometers from downtown Naples small streams of lava began running down our side of the mountain fiery streams were flowing in all directions The rumbling continues — more prolonged now This evening it would seem that the whole top of the mountain is burning Fiery patches here and there resemble a log which is just burning out Heavy explosions occur followed by prolonged rumbling while sparks and molten lava are thrown high into the air to fall like rain on all sides of the cone.” McRae didn’t write again until March 29 the crews had been evacuated to a nearby airfield where they spent a frigid night in a tobacco shed part of the team sent to inspect the damage later reported “almost complete devastation” with “tents torn to ribbons” and “88 B-25 Mitchells — $25 million worth of aircraft … a total loss.” some of which were ultimately repaired and returned to service an American who broadcast German propaganda from Berlin said that Vesuvius had decimated the 340th Bomb Group “Actually a sprained wrist and a few minor cuts were the only casualties,” he wrote While Vesuvius claimed no military fatalities during the 1944 eruption 26 Italian civilians were killed and nearly 12,000 were displaced Falling volcanic rock killed three in Terzigno which is why the volcanologists of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology have made Mount Vesuvius one of the most watched volcanoes in the world the Royal Vesuvius Observatory building perched high on the volcano’s flank that was once occupied by Giuseppe Imbò is a museum But volcanologists no longer need to crawl to the edge of a lava stream in order to monitor the volcano; they have at their disposal a wide variety of remote sensors that measure seismic activity and the composition of gases emitted from fumaroles Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker an event that destroyed Massa di Somma and San Sebastiano sprinkling Ottaviano and the entire South with ashes Precisely on the occasion of this event from Sunday 17 to Tuesday 19 March 2024 three days of free visits will take place at the historic headquarters of the Vesuvian Observatory and path no the event that encompasses the three days is entitled “Knowing and experiencing Vesuvius 80 years after the last eruption” and is organized by the Vesuvian Observatory of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology by the Civil Protection department in collaboration with the Regional School Office for Campania Le guided tours they will be open to everyone especially on the day of Sunday 17 will be reserved for all population with departures every hour from 09:00 to 15:00 with reservations required while seats last March 18th and 19th will be days dedicated to schools who have joined this special initiative with the Regional School Office During the three days one will take place visit to the historic headquarters of the Vesuvian Observatory a will be screened movie which will concern the 1944 eruption We will then continue with a fascinating walk along path no The visit will last approximately 2 hours and it will be necessary to make a reservation They will be special opportunities to visit this place the risks associated with it and all the typical phenomena of the place To participate you must complete the reservation by sending an email to museo.ov@ingv.it taking care to indicate the number of people the name of the school institute or association the email address and telephone number of a contact person Vesuvius National Park official site | Vesuvian Observatory site | reservation: museo.ov@ingv.it we earn a commission from qualifying purchases through ticketing links This commission does not entail any additional price for the user.