RAZOR: Predicting the Unpredictable — Italy’s Seismic Tech

Italy sits on the boundary where the African tectonic plate is diving down beneath the Eurasian plate. It makes it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe but despite widespread scientific advancements, quakes have continued to devastate communities, which raises the question: can we really ever predict earthquakes?

To understand the reality for many Italians, RAZOR's Gabrielle Lawrence heads to Campi Flegrei, near Naples and in the shadow of Vesuvius, one of Italy's most seismically active regions. 

Since 2018, unrest has intensified, with multiple magnitude 4 earthquakes in 2025 and persistent ground uplift threatening hundreds of thousands of residents. We meet scientists who are now using artificial intelligence to analyze vast seismic datasets, searching for early warning signals of major quakes that could devastate communities.

READ MORE FROM RAZOR

How a super El Niño could turbocharge extreme weather

The glacier that buried a Swiss village

Monitoring Europe's alpine snow shortage

In another seismic hotspot, Pavia in northern Italy, is one of Europe's leading earthquake engineering laboratories. Here, researchers operate experimental shake tables capable of recreating devastating seismic forces. Full-scale buildings are violently tested to understand exactly how structures fail — we ask engineers how future cities can be built to survive.

RAZOR has also been given special access to the nerve center of Italian seismology. The Operations Rooms of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Rome. When an earthquake happens anywhere in the country, it appears real-time on screens here.