Drilling into volcano will not make it erupt, scientists say

Another article about plans to drill in the Campi Flegrei appeared in The Times on Saturday. This one included an interview with Dr. Chris Kilburn, a scientist from UCL actually involved in the project. You can follow the link above to the full article, but here are some choice quotes from Dr. Kilburn:

“We’re not going to drill into the magma chamber or erupt the volcano. We’re going to be standing on the damned thing so unless we want to commit some sort of collective euthanasia that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“The idea that all the magma would come whooshing up the hole is total Hollywood fantasy. It would be like trying to suck porridge through a straw.”

“People in the area aren’t really aware of the project yet, but they are pretty volatile and there will be people upset about it."