Mount Etna

• International location


  SE Italy

  Mediterranean Sea, SE Europe
• National location


  Island of Sicily
• Elevation


  3,310m
• Date/Time of eruption


  1991-92 event

  2001-02 event
• Background of Mt. Etna


  Most active volcano in Europe

  Frequently erupts over the last 20 years
• Nature:

  Plate boundary

  Destructive

  African subducts under Eurasian~ both continental plates
• Nature:

  Type of volcano

  Composite stratovolcano (layers of ash and lava)
• Nature:

  Type of eruption

  Strombolian (small frequent eruptions)
• Nature:

  Shape of volcano and lava type

  Valle de Bove caldera 5-10km

  Basaltic lava~low effusion rate (volume of lava m3/sec)
• Nature:

  Ash deposits


  Ejected from summit reached as far as Libya (600km S across the Mediterranean Sea)
• Nature:

  Fissure eruptions

  5 from S flank (2500m altitude)

  2 from NE flank (2800m altitude)
• Nature:

  Seismic activity

  Earthquake caused a 2m slip on E flanks
• Social impact:

  Deaths


  77 indirectly caused by all of Etna's eruptions e.g lightning strikes
• Social impact:

  Village of Zafferana (population 8000)


  Water supplies destroyed

  Italian government gave $8 million in aid and tax breaks
• Socio-economic impact:

  Farming was destoryed

  Olive gardens/vineyards destroyed by pyroclastic flows - main source of income
• Socio-economic impact:

  Airport shut down

  Airport of Catania

  Ash in the atmosphere made flying unsafe

  Impacting on winter tourism industry
• Economic impact:

  Tourist centres shut down


  Piano Provenzana and ski lodges were either destroyed or shut down for safety reasons, affecting the economy
• Economic impact:

  Cost of damage

  Insurance claims cost millions of lira
• Environmental impact:

  Fertile soil

  Ash deposits made the soil on Etna's flanks fertile for agriculture~ 25% population live on the volcano's flanks
• Prediction:

  Hazard mapping


  Restricts new buildings within danger zones
• Prediction:

  Thermal imaging/lasers

  Detect increases in temperatures

  ~signifies magma rising and increase volcanic activity

  Showed extreme warning signs 48 hours before eruption
• Protection:

  Spraying water

  Cool and solidify lava into rock to stop flowing into densely populated areas
• Protection:

  (INGV) Cut off lava flow

  Dropping concrete blocks by helicopter blocked primary channels on top of the lava tube
• Protection:

  Government intervention (Zafferana)

  Earth barrier across Val Calanna, S of Valle del Bove~

  20m high, >400m long
• Protection:

  Operation Volcano Buster


  Diversion channels dug by US marines and engineers used explosives to create blasted opening in the lava tube

  Lava diverted 850m away from Zafferana