"All Down to Earth', Campi Flegrei: Earthquake tests at school as a game

Earthquake tests as if it were a game for the children of the Phlegraean Fields, who reacted to the magnitude 4.3 tremor - only simulated, fortunately - as they had been taught many times before: first down under their desks and then, once the tremor had passed, all in single file along tested routes to reach the outside. This is what the pupils of the San Giuseppe school in Pozzuoli did, one of the four selected to test the Civil Protection's bradyseismic plan, a test that only concerned the 'command posts', i.e. the municipal and regional structures that must adopt the procedures laid down in the event of a bradyseism tremor, and not the population, except for the pupils of four schools, in Pozzuoli, Bacoli and the Bagnoli district of Naples.

The children of St Joseph's, like the others, repeated a ritual to which they are in fact already accustomed and which they carry out every time the bradyseism strikes. At the agreed ringing of the bell, followed by Sister Rita's announcement, the "Everybody down on the floor" was triggered: or rather, "under the benches", for an initial immediate shelter. Then, neatly, they reached the large courtyard. A 'game' that also involved the parents (not this time) who, alerted by a chat, had to reach the school on foot as soon as possible. "On foot," explains the head of the institute, Sister Rita, "to avoid clogging up the roads that, in the event of a real earthquake, must be left free to facilitate the arrival of emergency vehicles in an area where there are many schools. San Giuseppe also houses a kindergarten with about fifteen children who, in the event of an evacuation, are taken out by as many assistants, some of whom look after children with disabilities.

For the rest, the aim of the exercise - which simulated a strong seismic swarm, culminating in the magnitude 4.3 earthquake - was to test the procedures laid down in the Bradyseism Plan, such as communications between the territorial and central Civil Protection offices (which recorded a few criticalities that had to be corrected) and everything that needs to be done in the event of a tremor causing damage. In this specific case, (simulated) damage was recorded in Bacoli and Pozzuoli, but without injuries. And the two mayors are satisfied with how the relief machine reacted, from the convocation of the Coc, the municipal operational centres, to the reconnaissance of the damage. "The simulation went very well," commented the first mayor of Bacoli, Josi Gerardo Della Ragione - who had to cope with the fake collapse of the pier in Baia, a sinkhole in Via Lucullo, and the damage suffered by three buildings with 26 families - while Gigi Manzoni, mayor of Pozzuoli, where rubble fell and a road suffered instability, is already projected for the next drill, scheduled for 30 and 31 May. Italo Giulivo, director of the regional Civil Protection, was in charge of coordinating interventions with the national Civil Protection, on the one hand, and with municipal structures, on the other. "Today was an important day, we were able to test the command posts, procedures and communications between the various actors," he said. "In the de-briefing we will analyse the critical issues, so that next time they will not be repeated."