Volcano’s Tsunami Could Threaten Southern Italy

A prominent vulcanologist said on Monday that Europe’s largest undersea volcano could disintegrate and unleash a tsunami that would engulf southern Italy "at any time."

Enzo Boschi told the Corriere della Sera daily that the Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has "fragile walls" that could collapse.

"It could even happen tomorrow," said Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

"Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizeable dimensions," he said. "All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time."

Boschi said that the event would result in "a strong tsunami that could strike the coasts of Campania, Calabria and Sicily."

The undersea volcano is 9,800 feet tall and is located about 90 miles southwest of Naples.  It has not erupted since the start of recorded history.

Marsili is 43 miles long and 18 miles wide.  Its crater is about 1,476 feet below the surface of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

"A rupture of the walls would let loose millions of cubic meters of material capable of generating a very powerful wave," Boschi said.

"While the indications that have been collected are precise, it is impossible to make predictions. The risk is real but hard to evaluate."