"Super volcano", global danger, lurks near Pompeii

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - Across the bay of Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, lies a hidden "super volcano" that could kill millions in a catastrophe many times worse, scientists say.

The boiling mud and sulphurous steam holes of the area west of Naples known as the Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields, from the Greek word for burning, are a major tourist attraction.

But the zone of intense seismic activity, which the ancients thought was the entrance to hell, also could pose a danger of global proportions with millions of people literally living on top of a potential future volcanic eruption.

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Scientists plan to drill 3.5 km (2.2 miles) below the surface to monitor the huge chamber of molten rock near Pompeii and give early warning of any eruption from a 13-km-wide collapsed volcanic caldera.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/03/us-italy-volcano-idUKBRE8720WI20120803

[eShirl]

1. And scientists are drilling a hole to it?

Yeah, let me just get as far away as possible...

[Atman]

2. They was my first thought, too.

Like lancing a massive boil. It's gonna be ugly!