SOMMA VESUVIANA, Italy (Reuters) - Neapolitans staged an orderly ``Vesuvius drill'' Sunday in a dress rehearsal of an evacuation in the event of an eruption of the volcano that buried Pompeii in 79 AD.

Officials organized the evacuation of 500 people from the town of Somma Vesuviana in the shadow of the Italian volcano and took them in 14 buses to the Abruzzo region.

The ``evacuees,'' some of whom took picnics and considered the event a fun day out, said they were crossing their fingers they would not have to do it for real. Neapolitans are known for their extreme superstition.

The drill was the first to be carried out involving the evacuation of local people.

``Today's test helps us make sure that everything is working and that if need be, we can still evacuate everybody right up to the last minute,'' said Mariella D'Ascia, a civil protection official responsible for the operation.

``We're happy,'' said one girl, wearing a colored identification badge. ``It will come in useful in the event of the real thing -- touch wood.''

Under the full-scale eruption plan, 600,000 people would be evacuated from homes most at risk of being engulfed by an eruption of Vesuvius, which dominates the Bay of Naples, followed by another 900,000 from other nearby residences.

A series of small tremors last month raised fears Vesuvius could be stirring, but officials say the activity is normal and there is no danger.

Vesuvius's last major eruption was in March 1944 during the height of a fierce World War Two battle.