The talk in shops and coffee bars in Pozzuoli, a port town outside Naples, is not about soccer or politics, but of the fear that has gripped residents since a supervolcano sparked a swarm of earthquakes.
Over the past weeks the government has been planning for a possible mass evacuation of tens of thousands of people who live around the vast volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, from the ancient Greek word for burning.
But a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 27, the strongest jolt in more than 40 years to rattle the volcanic field, sparked fears that what scientists call a “seismic crisis” may be underway for the first time since the early 1980s.
The big quake, which caused no serious structural damage, and about 500 smaller ones so far in October, have made residents such as Annamaria Scardi, a mother of two teenagers, feel tense.
When a similar crisis struck four decades ago, it lasted several years and forced the temporary evacuation of 40,000 people from Pozzuoli, known as the hometown of actress Sophia Loren.
I want to stay, but my wife and children are looking for a house in the Castel Volturno area," said Vincenzo Russo, referring to a town about 30 km (18 miles) north.
On a recent afternoon, Angelo Prezzini and friends, gathered in the courtyard of a social club for retirees to play cards as they do nearly every day, took a more sanguine view.
The original article contains 477 words, the summary contains 209 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Over the past weeks the government has been planning for a possible mass evacuation of tens of thousands of people who live around the vast volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, from the ancient Greek word for burning.
But a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 27, the strongest jolt in more than 40 years to rattle the volcanic field, sparked fears that what scientists call a “seismic crisis” may be underway for the first time since the early 1980s.
The big quake, which caused no serious structural damage, and about 500 smaller ones so far in October, have made residents such as Annamaria Scardi, a mother of two teenagers, feel tense.
When a similar crisis struck four decades ago, it lasted several years and forced the temporary evacuation of 40,000 people from Pozzuoli, known as the hometown of actress Sophia Loren.
I want to stay, but my wife and children are looking for a house in the Castel Volturno area," said Vincenzo Russo, referring to a town about 30 km (18 miles) north.
On a recent afternoon, Angelo Prezzini and friends, gathered in the courtyard of a social club for retirees to play cards as they do nearly every day, took a more sanguine view.
The original article contains 477 words, the summary contains 209 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!