MOUNT ETNA casestudy - volcanic event example

Question 1

characteristics / details of Mount Etna

Answer 1

• 3350m tall
• covering an area of 1250km
• northeastern Sicily, Italy
• largest active volcano in Europe
• Etna is a “Russian doll” of nested in composite volcanoes with summit calderas

Question 2

how was Mount Etna formed ?

Answer 2

• Etna is a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian continental plates
• no exact theory, but most suggest it is linked to rigging, associated with constructive plate margins
• this pulling apart of the Earth’s crust is thought to be separating eastern Sicily from the rest of Italy

Question 3

The lava of Mount Etna ?

Answer 3

• most effusive and occasionally mild Strombolian (short lava flows)
• the Strombolian-type eruptions occur on the summit
• less frequent, more effusive (from fissures on the sides of Etna)

Question 4

today - how many people are at risk from the volcanic eruptions of Etna ?

Answer 4

900,000 people

Question 5

28th March 1983 - eruption 
(Mount Etna)
- nature of eruption
- impact
- response

Answer 5

Nature:
- lava effusion from a 750m fissure lasting for 131 days

Impact:
- lava threatened to destroy property

Responses:
- 750,000 cubic metres earthworks used to redirect lava flows away from inhabited areas

Question 6

15th December 1991 - 31st March 1993 (Mount Etna)

Nature
Impact
Response

Answer 6

Nature:
- effusive lava flows, fountaining from a fissure on the eastern suce of the Southeast Crater. Lasted from 473 days

Impact:
- gown if Zafferana Etnea threatened by the largest volume of lava in 100s of years

Responses:

• January: earth dam built to temporarily hold lava flow
• April: blasted rock and concrete blocks dropped to “plug” the lava channel
• May: explosives used to divert the lava flow into a new man-made channel

Question 7

17th July - 9th August 2001 
(Mount Etna)
Nature:
Impact:
Response:

Answer 7

Nature:
- 7 fissures erupt effusively on the south and northeast flank

Impact:
Significant damage to tourist facilities
- town of Nicolosi is threatened

Response:
Catania airport forced to close as a result of ash fall

Question 8

26th-27th October 2002 
(Mount Etna)
Nature
Impact
Response

Answer 8

Nature:
- Strombolian

Impact:
Most explosive flank eruption in last 150 years
- lava flows threaten the mountain village of Rifugio Sapienza

Response:
- Catania airport closed due to ash fall

Question 9

8th November 2009
(Mount Etna)

Nature
Impact
Response

Answer 9

Nature:
Strombolian eruption in Southeast Crater

Impact:
- 4.4 magnitude earthquake beneath southwest flank

Response:
- Catania airport forced to close as a result of ash fall