Oct
29th, 2002 -
The eruption of Sicily's Mount Etna has been accompanied by a strong earthquake.
In Santa Venerina a thousand people are be forced to live their house.
Many tremors have been registered since Sunday, the eruption's starting day, but Tuesday's was
the largest at 4.3 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake has been registered at 11,02 a.m. and followed in the afternoon by two more quakes at
3.6 and 4.0.
Meanwhile, two streams of lava are continuing to flow down the southern and northern slopes of the
volcano setting the pine forest on fire. Residential areas are not threatened.
Schools in the town have been shut down, although the church has remained open for people to pray.
July
20th, 2002 - Rifugio Sapienza (video rm
- wmv)
The
past three weeks have been very quiet at Etna; most activity has consisted of
gas emissions from three of the four summit craters (Northeast Crater, Voragine
and Bocca Nuova), while fumaroles are emitting white vapor on the upper slopes
of the Southeast Crater. Occasional emissions of brownish (probably lithic)
ash have continued at fairly long intervals at the Northeast Crater and alternatingly
from the two pits within the Bocca Nuova. Several small new fumaroles have formed
on the lower southeastern flank of the Southeast Crater cone during the past
week, which coincide with a fracture that was active during the July-August
2001 eruption. The appearance of these fumaroles may indicate that the crater
is slowly heating up, but currently there is no sign of heightened activity
in the immediate future. During
a visit to the summit craters on 30 May, few changes were noted that had occurred
since the previous summit visit on 28 January; the most significant one was
the partial collapse of the inner terrace within the northwestern pit of the
Bocca Nuova. Lithic blocks that had created impact craters were noted on the
southwestern rim of that crater; these may have been ejected by a (presumably
phreatic) explosion which was seismically recorded on 6 May. Seismicity since
then has been at low levels.
Extensive field observations of the eruptive vents, cones and lava flows of
the July-August 2001 eruption were made on 29 and 30 May. Many of these features
are now accessible via a network of well-established footpaths and thus have
lost some of their pristine character. Yet they show a multitude of geologically
interesting details, such as small vents which at depth are connected by fissures
(as in the case of the small cone at 2700 m elevation), and beautiful lava tubes
and channels (at the vents at 2900 m elevation).
Still,
the devastation caused by the activity of the large crater at 2570 m elevation
(which has been variously named "Montagnola 2", "Cono del laghetto"
and "Monte del Lago"; it has now been named "Monte Tazieff")
during its week-long magmatic activity is evident as if it happened yesterday.
The uppermost ski lift, which connected the ruin of the "Piccolo Rifugio"
(buried under lava in late July 2001) and the Montagnola, bears numerous signs
of the destructive power of the bombardment of huge bombs to which it was subjected.
The
arrival station of the cable car on the western base of the Montagnola, which
was set ablaze by a small branch of lava on 30 July, remained standing but its
inside is a scene of utter devastation. Lava entered into the building in various
places but stopped immediately thereafter, leaving the blazed interior to post-eruption
visitors. Most haunting is a look into the bar which hosted hundreds of people
every day; its floor is covered with more or less deformed or molten bottles
and the remainders of coffee machines.
Lava
burst into the bar through three windows and stopped after oozing onto the floor,
thus capturing the moment of destruction. Among the numerous sites where eruptions
of Etna have caused damage or destruction, the cable car station and nearby
ski lift are surely the most impressive. To this is added a kind of ironic touch,
since the cable car and its arrival station had just been renovated (a solarium
had been constructed in the station) and should have been reopened in late July
2001 - and the destructive lava flow just touched the station, enough to burn
it, but it did not submerge it.
Meanwhile, plans are being made for the rebuilding of the destroyed portions
of the cable car, and work has begun in earnest for a major renovation of the
Torre del Filosofo mountain hut, which stands at 2900 m elevation, only 1 km
from the Southeast Crater. Whether this is a wise initiative will be seen in
the future, for the Southeast Crater will surely become active again in the
future. For the moment, Etna is continuing its unquiet slumber, and nearly 10
months have passed since glowing lava was last seen at this volcano...
