'Time bomb' is on the verge of exploding in Europe and no one does anything to stop it

The volcanic caldera of the Phlegrean Fields, located near Naples (Italy), may erupt soon. Even with the existence of the catastrophic possibility, the region does not have an evacuation plan.

Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, a vulcanologist at the Vesuvius Observatory, spoke with the editors in Italy about the odds of an eruption of volcanoes and the possible consequences.

"The risk of an eruption of the two Neapolitan volcanoes is extremely high. We can say without a doubt that this is the greatest risk of eruption in the world today," he said.

According to the vulcanologist, the risk increases because of the devastating consequences that the catastrophe would be responsible, that is, the number of people who could be affected. In relation to the Flégreos Field, three million people are at risk.

The specialist drew attention to the fact that "the possibility of an eruption is as high as possible today. It can occur at any time."

"We hope that in this case there will be a lot of early signs that it will be possible to prepare for the evacuation, but everything indicates that it will be announced only a few hours before it occurs," he said.

Moreover, in the Phlegrean Fields there are supervolcanoes capable of causing large-scale eruptions, with proportions a hundred times more destructive than the eruption of Vesuvius - which destroyed the city of Pompeii.

Since 2012, the yellow-level alert has been introduced in the region amid the threat of eruption of this volcanic caldera. Yellow is the second on the four-level scale of volcanic alert and indicates that a rash may occur in weeks or months.

According to Mastrolorenzo, when the situation reaches the red - most dangerous level - it will not be possible to save the population if there is no official concrete plan or at least general recommendations to coordinate the evacuation process in the region.

"An evacuation plan that includes the necessary measures, the rescue work, the forms of rescue and the way of alert of the population, simply does not exist," he said.

The volcanologist noted that the natural disasters of recent decades - from the Indian Ocean tsunami to Hurricane Katrina - have shown that most of the time, even knowing the risks in advance, we do not pay enough attention to avoid them.

In addition, there are other threats, such as, for example, plans to build geothermal power plants on the Italian island of Ischia or in Phlegrean Fields. These installations can cause earthquakes or eruptions. However, local authorities have not expressed any opposition to such projects, he said.