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Quakes beset Italian town as supervolcano rumbles

STORY: Smoke rises from the volcanic fields near the Italian port town of Pozzuoli near Naples.They give the area a surreal atmosphere and even draw tourists.But they’re now causing fear for 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 this vast volcanic area.It is known as the Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields – from the ancient Greek word for burning.Residents have become used to the smell and the trembling earth. There were more than a thousand quakes in September, most of them minor.But a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 27 was the strongest jolt in more than four decades to rattle the volcanic field.It sparked fears that what scientists call a “seismic crisis” may be underway.This tremor was caught on camera in October. It’s a tense time for some locals.”The last tremor we had was frightening, it was terrible. Even the small tremors, even the tiny ones, scare us. We are worried because the only option is to run away. But where do we go? Where?””When you sleep at night, the nightmare is always there. You just forget the situation and you’re on the couch, and then the tremor is there with you. There are big ones and small ones too. Yesterday for example we had two small tremors before lunch.”No serious structural damage was caused by the recent big quake, and experts say there is no imminent threat of an eruption.But they fear the geophysical activity is causing ground uplift and descent, which can destabilize buildings.The government, which discussed the situation in cabinet this month, would order an evacuation if civil protection officials warned buildings were in danger of collapse.The shifts are caused by the filling or emptying of magma chambers deep underground.Some residents are considering a move elsewhere. For those who remain, sleep will never be quite as sound as they might hope.