A "supervolcano" in Italy last erupted in 1538. Experts warn it's "nearly to the breaking point" again.
CBSN
A long-dormant "supervolcano" in southern Italy is inching closer to a possible eruption — nearly six centuries after it last erupted, according to European researchers.
The Campi Flegrei volcano, which is located near the city of Naples, has become weaker over time and as a result is more prone to rupturing, according to a peer-reviewed study conducted by researchers from England's University College London and Italy's National Research Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology.
The study used a model of volcano fracturing to interpret the patterns of earthquakes and ground uplift. There have been tens of thousands of earthquakes around the volcano, and the town of Pozzuoli, which rests on top of Campi Flegrei, has been lifted by about 13 feet as a result of them. The quakes and rising earth have stretched parts of the volcano "nearly to the breaking point," according to a news release about the study, and the ground seems to be breaking, rather than bending.
