Bradyseism Campi Flegrei, fake sinkholes, neighborhoods without water and gas and schools evacuated in the April 22nd exercise

The first exercise for bradyseism risk ai Phlegraean Fields will be held on Monday 22 April 2024. Some risk scenarios will be simulated, such as the opening of a sinkhole in the street after an earthquake, with the interruption of water and gas supplies, static checks on some buildings following fake collapses of rubble and cornices and theevacuation of four schools to Naples, Pozzuoli and Bacoli.

The first bradyseism exercise on April 22, 2024

This first civil protection exercise of April 22, 2024 will simulate the scenarios 1 and 2 of the bradyseismic risk plan and will be very limited and with low visual impact on the population. The operators, in fact, will be barely visible on the street. Almost everything will take place within the decision-making rooms set up in the Prefecture and in the Campania Region. It will, in fact, be an exercise for “command posts”, to test the efficiency of the organizational machine in case of emergency, testing in the field the procedures introduced by the expeditious planning on bradyseism at the Campi Flegrei.

They will follow two more exercises on May 30 and 31 who will simulate it scenario 3with possible partial evacuation of the populationit’s a fourth large-scale exercise in October for the risk of volcanic eruption.

The bradyseism plan includes 3 risk scenarios

The bradyseism plan has no alert phases – unlike the volcanic risk – but provides 3 risk scenarios:

The scenario 1 refers to a situation in which seismicity produces limited and localized damage in small portions of the intervention area, such as the collapse of some cornice. The Municipalities and the Region act in this phase in conjunction with the national level.

The scenario 2 involves more severe damage in larger portions of the territory, such as the collapse of rubble in several areas and problems with underground utility systems, such as aqueducts, sewerage systems, electricity and gas networks. In this scenario, the operational response involves the involvement of the national level with coordination entrusted to Civil Protection Operational Committee and the subsequent possible activation of the DiComaC, the Command and Control Directorateas well as a possible mobilization of National Civil Protection System.

The scenario 3, however, provides for the national mobilization of the Civil Protection system and precedes the declaration of any state of emergency. It is also possible toevacuation of part of the population in the “restricted intervention zone”, colored purple in the new bradyseism map, which involves Naples and Pozzuoli, the one where the ground rise is greatest.

Which risk scenarios will be simulated on April 22nd

L’exercise on Monday 22 April 2024 will test them scenarios 1 and 2. For this reason, the test only concerns “command posts”. It will not involve the population, but only the institutional bodies in charge: the Municipalities of Naples, Bacoli, Pozzuoli, Quarto, Marano, Monte di Procida, Giugliano in Campania, the Prefecture of Naples, the Campania Region, the Metropolitan City of Naples, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology – Vesuvian Observatory and the Department of Civil Protection.

The Campania Region will set up the Operations Room (Soru) and the Emercom room as it would really be done in case of need, with the activation of all the functions involved: coordination and connection with the Coc (Municipal Operations Centres), assistance to the population, volunteering, damage census, logistics, communication to the population and the press.

Schools evacuated and fake sinkholes in the streets

The exercise will start at 8.30 in the morning and should end around 2.00 pm. Evacuation drills will be carried out in four schools:

• the Madonna Assunta institute in Bagnoli in the municipality of Naples,
• the Paolo di Tarso institute in the municipality of Bacoli,
• the San Giuseppe and Giacinto Diano schools in the municipality of Pozzuoli.

School staff and students will be taken to the collection point envisaged in the Institute’s emergency plan and, once the simulations of the technical checks and assessments of any damage to the building have been completed, normal activities will resume.

In the case of Naples, the children will be taken to a limited external area. The municipal technicians will arrive here to simulate the verification of any damage. At the end of the checks, which in the simulation should not ascertain any damage, the operators will allow the students to return to class.

TO Bacoli one will be simulated sinkhole in the street with water and gas interruption in a neighborhood. An episode similar to a normal gas leak. Some apartments will be evacuated for a couple of hours and, after structural checks, the inhabitants will be allowed to return.

When the Civil Protection bradyseismic plan is triggered

In these months of recovery of bradyseism, several seismic swarms have been witnessed in the Campi Flegrei. But what actually triggers the Civil Protection plan? The plan does not depend on the magnitude of the earthquake, but on whether damage is reported. The scenario, as Fanpage.it learns from institutional sources, is that of seismic swarms with important tremors such as those of September and October 2023 (in both cases there were magnitudes greater than 4.0) but with higher frequencies, which could lead to, precisely, to small collapses and detachments, conditions which have not yet occurred.

In this case, the municipal Civil Protection may temporarily remove some families from their homes to check the conditions of the building. If collapses occur in multiple points, the intervention of the Region or the national Department of Civil Protection may be necessary.

The exercises of 30 and 31 May 2024

Monday’s exercise will be followed by a further test, again within the scope of the procedures established by the Bradyseismic planning: it will be held on May 30th and 31st and will serve to verify the operational actions relating to the third scenario, the one in which it is assumed that the ground deformations undergo an increase in lifting.

In this case there will also be theevacuation, with the voluntary participation of the population. This scenario predicts that the Campania region or the Municipality may decide to evacuate part of the citizens and take them to hotels, identified by the Region based on agreements with Federalberghi. The scenario involves returning to the homes once the renovations have been completed and made safe.