Mount

Etna

In Brief:> Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to the cities Messina and Catania. > The age of the rock is said to be 500,000 years old. > The Last eruption was in 2008 > Height of the Volcano is 3,326 meters

Map 1 shows the location of Mount Etna:

Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing at around 3,326 meters high which makes it the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being even three times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in constant state of eruption.

EruptionsThe most destructive eruption occurred in March 1669. The eruption was followed by two months of powerful earthquakes which happened on the slopes of the mountain, causing most villagers living there to abandon their homes. Even though they left their homes, they soon could not run away forever and a large amount were brutally killed. On the 11 of March, a 9 km-long crack opened up on the south side of the mountain, the crack was massive. The largest vent opened near the town of Nicolosi. Nicolosi was quickly destroyed by lava flows, and two other nearby villages were destroyed during the eruption's first day. A further four villages were destroyed in the following three days as the lava flowed. In late March two larger towns were destroyed, and the lava managed to reach the city of Catania in early April. The people of Catania tried to protect themselves by building city walls but they could not go against this massive force of nature. First, lava crashed against the city walls, which were built to be strong enough to protect the city. However, while the city was at the time protected, the lava flowed into its harbour and filled it. On 30 April, lava flowed over the top of the city walls, which were poorly built and were destroyed. The city of Catania then built walls across the roads to change the direction of the lava, which were a little effective but did not prevent the destruction. A drawing showing the devastating effects of Etna's 1669 eruption

================================================= ===================== Another eruption in 1928 led to the first destruction since the 1669 eruption. The town of Mascali was destroyed in just two days, with the lava destroying every building. Again many people died. The main problem was that the city of Mascali was growing and they had a lot of people populated in it. So when Etna erupted, many people were killed. It erupted in the morning when many people were asleep and many were crushed inside their own homes. Farmland mainly was damaged because a lot of animals died and the land was destroyed.

In 2002-2003, Etna launched a big amount of ash that could be seen from space and some of the ash fell to Libya, which was 600 km away from it. The vibrations activity of the eruption caused the sides of the volcano to fall by 2 meters; this made the many houses on the sides of the volcano shattered. The eruption also damaged the economy as many popular tourist areas were damaged. The country was still re building after the previous eruption, but it is now a pile of dirt once again.

Etna's 2002 eruption from a satellite

================================================= ===================== On 4 September 2007 Etna violently erupted at around 8:00 p.m. local time, firing lava up to 400 m into the air along with strong winds that sent ash and smoke into the towns. This long eruption lasted for a short period of time, ending the following morning between the hours of 5 to 7 am local time. Catanias Airport shut down during the night for safety reasons.

Etna's September. 2007 eruption seen from the southeast crater.

The fertile volcanic rocks support agriculture and farming as it contains a lot of nutrients packed. It is hard for everyone that lives in Sicily because no one really knows when this active volcano will erupt again. Mount Etna has been called a Decade Volcano by the United Nations because it has erupted for such a long time.

Measures that have been taken: All of the previous volcanic events had not given the people warnings that they were actually going to take place. If these warnings are told then evacuations can take place. They should use a seismograph to measure any small foreshocks and observe animals because they all often act strangely. If people evacuated, then there would have been thousands of lives saved. However if evacuations continue, then the people who do evacuate need to be looked after, such as being placed in a house and having food and shelter. Most of the deaths in the previous eruptions were caused by diseases spreading from contaminated food and water which of course gave the people diarrhea. Aid is important. The local people were not told what to do once it had started and many were baffled. So people should also get educated about what to do when a Eruption starts. The emergency rescue teams should be equipped and well trained. Hospitals should be put on red alert, and the electricity should be back quickly to avoid fires.

Poor buildings like these need a big improvement, because they collapse in a second.