Stromboli and the tsunami risk in the Tyrrhenian Sea, here is the study by Ingv

«The Stromboli crater represents the greatest source of tsunami risk in the Mediterranean Sea». This was stated by Giuseppe De Natale, research manager of the Ingv, former director of the Vesuvian Observatory, on the occasion of the launch of the manifesto “Mending Italy for a new Euro-Mediterranean structure”, signed by over 500 representatives of the academic and scientific world and intellectual.

The scholar points out that the Neapolitan area has the highest volcanic risk in the world: about 3 million people live within a distance of 20 km from a possible volcanic vent. Then there are the Sicilian volcanoes Etna, those of the Aeolian Islands, and the submarine volcanoes in particular in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea. «The volcanic risk in Italy – explains De Natale – is extremely variable, since it depends on the nature and location of the volcanic systems considered. Etna is a type of volcano that does not pose immediate risks to human life, although some lava flows can sometimes threaten inhabited centers. The main risk is the seismic risk linked to the volcanic processes and the faults that surround Etna ».

«The Aeolian volcanoes – continues the researcher – are characterized by modest levels of explosiveness. However, episodes such as those that occurred in Stromboli in July and August 2019 are unpredictable and very risky for tourists who flock to the island. Stromboli, with the extremely unstable flank of the Sciara del Fuoco, also represents the major source of tsunami risk in the Mediterranean Sea ». An event like that of December 30, 2002, when a landslide of about 16 million cubic meters of material, caused by the eruption of the volcano, generated a tsunami that also reached the other Aeolian islands and the coasts of Calabria and Sicily.

«Even the submarine volcanoes, numerous in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea – concludes De Natale – are potential sources of tsunamis, although of lesser danger. The highest volcanic risk in the world, however, is that of the Neapolitan area, due to the presence of multiple volcanic areas characterized by very high explosiveness, extremely populated: Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ischia, as well as other possible sources of eruptions in the Piana Campana ” .