Mount Etna
Cards (6)
- Mount Etna background
- Sicily, Italy 1991-2018
- effusive and Strombolian eruption with short lava flows on the summit
- eruptions from fissures on the sides of Etna
- Mount Etna primary impacts
- damage to tourist facilities
- lava flow threatened mountain village
- 4.4 magnitude earthquake
- sulphur dioxide fumes
- flooding and mudflows
- killed no more than 77 people in the last 2700 years
- crater width increased from 10-50m
- ash deposits enriched soil, benefiting agriculture
- emissions poisoned livestock and contaminated water supplies
- Mount Etna secondary impacts
- airport forced to close due to ash fall on the runway
- increased booking for volcano tours
- respiratory problems caused due to ash, gases and sulphur dioxide
- air quality affected air traffic due to reduced visibility and hazardous conditions
- tourist areas forced to close
- emergency services couldn't respond due to ash blocking roads
- habitats damaged and animal populations displaced
- enhanced scientific research and monitoring
- Mount Etna short term responses
- earth dam built to hold lava flow
- rock and concrete blocks were dropped to plug the lava channel
- explosives diverted lava flow into a human made channel
- Italian government declared a state of emergency
- ship came with an aboard medical clinic
- mountain was surveyed by helicopter and water carrying planes were ready
- quick evacuation plans, alerts, sirens and provided transport to safe areas
- mental health support
- communication with tourists
- Mount Etna long term responses
- sophisticated monitoring systems - seismographs, GPS sations, satellites
- advanced model for predication from historical data and geological studies
- public education campaigns, regular evacuation drills
- zoning regulations to restrict development in high risk areas
- reduced economic dependence on tourists
- stronger building codes in high risk areas
- planting ash resistant crops
- Mount Etna causescollision of the African and Eurasian plates