ROME, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A leading volcanologist has warned that mass evacuations might be needed in a town close to Naples, which sits on a so-called Super Volcano that has been hit by hundreds of small earthquakes in recent weeks. Campi Flegrei sits across the bay of Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. However, it is a much bigger volcano than Vesuvius and if it ever exploded at full force could kill millions. Speaking in a personal capacity, De Natale said the last time Campi Flegrei suffered a similar burst of earthquakes in the 1980s, some 40,000 people were temporarily evacuated from nearby Pozzuoli. The Campi Flegrei caldera has a diameter of about 12-15 km (7.5-9.3 miles) and last erupted in 1538.

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Persons: Flegrei, Vesuvius, Giuseppe De Natale, De Natale, Campi Flegrei, Della Sera, Alvise Armellini, Crispian Balmer, Bernadette Baum, William Maclean Organizations: National Institute for Geophysics, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Naples, Pompeii, Pozzuoli, U.S ., Wyoming, Greenland, U.S