ETNA volcano

FACTS OF ETNAName:Mount Etna Latin: AetnaSicilian: Mungibeddu or 'a Muntagna)Type: Stratovolcano Age: 500,000 yearsLocation: east coast of Sicily, ItalyLast eruption: 2014 (ongoing) Prominence: 3,329.6 m (10,924 ft)

Did you know? Mount Etna is one of the

UNESCO World Heritage Sites (2013).

Its fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture .

ERUPTIONS The four distinct summit craters

are: -Bocca Nuova and Voragine (central craters) -Northeast crater -Southeast crater

Vertical eruptions pose little threat to inhabitants, however

strombolian eruptions, which produce ash, tephra and lava fountains, are also fairly common in these craters.

Ash cloud rising from Bocca Nuova crater, July 2011

Ash eruptions from SE crater, November 2006

ERUPTIONS The major 20th-century eruptions

1971 - lava buried the Etna Observatory and seriously threatened several small villages on Etna's east flank.

1992 - Zafferana was endangered by lava flow and was saved by a successful volcano control. Unfortunately several homes, fields, orchards and vineyards around the town were completely buried.

The eruptions of 2013 were mostly strombolian eruptions.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ERUPTIONS - ELECTRICITY -Widespread loss of

electricity for millions of people because of volcanic ash fall.

-Power-generating facilities may shut down during heavy ash fall and may not start again until ash has been removed from the facility

Immediate ash removal is the best strategy to prevent widespread power

outages.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ERUPTIONS -AGRICULTURE

Ash fall can have serious detrimental effects on agricultural crops and predicting the potential

crop losses from ash fall is difficult. Fluorine poisoning and death can occur in livestock as

the animals eat the ash-covered grass.

Ash from Etna volcano on the

surface of citrus fruit made it

uneconomical to produce juice

because it was too expensive to clean the fruit.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ERUPTIONS -BUILDINGS & COMMUNICATION

After an ash fall, removing ash from the roofs of the houses is usually a top priority in order to prevent roof collapse.

Radio, TV and telephone communications may fail completely in eruption-affected areas. The loss of communications makes disaster, and it is extremely difficult to fix it.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ERUPTIONS -TRANSPORTATION

Ash fall may severely disrupt transportation systems for days, including roads, airports and railways.

An ash fall of 1-3 mm can seriously reduce visibility, so the airports and highways are usually temporary shut down.

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