Geophysisist Enzo Boschi told Corriere della Sera yesterday that an undersea volcano could erupt and cause a tsunami which could swallow up the south of Italy.
The Marsili Volcano lies 450 metres below the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 110 miles south of Naples. It is 3,000 metres [9,800] feet high, 70 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide. It has fragile walls and an enormous chamber of magma [molten rock].
Dr Boschi warns that, though the volcano has never erupted during recorded history, it could do so at any time. He says it is impossible to predict when it could happen.