EtnaUpdater @EtnaUpdater@qoto.org

#introduction

Hello everyone!
My name is Oliver Beck. I'm here mainly to report on the current activity of the Mt Etna volcano. I was infected by the volcano virus as an 11-year-old boy when I visited Etna in the summer of 1979 and was able to observe explosive activity directly at the summit craters. In 2002 I returned to the mountain and in 2004 I started to report regularly about Mt Etna in German language on my website. Since then I have climbed the volcano many times and experienced several #eruptions.
Of course I am also interested in other volcanoes (LaPalma, Stromboli, Turrialba and many more) and volcanology in general. I love stones and minerals and their chemistry. So I hope to learn more here as well. I live in Hesse (Germany) on the edge of the Vogelsberg. This is the largest extinct volcanic area in Europe. I love nature and hiking. I like to visit abandoned quarries, which reveal a lot about the former activity of the Vogelsberg. So I will also report about my backyard geology here from time to time.
I work as a laboratory assistant at a large pharmaceutical company, where I deal with instrumental analysis (GC, HPLC). My focus is not only on chemistry, but also on Chromatography Data System support and software development. Besides volcanology, programming is another of my great passions. At the moment I work a lot with C#, VBA and SQL. It all started with a Commodore 64, where after BASIC I soon switched to Assembler and then to Pascal. Later I worked a lot with Perl, C++, Java and Javascript.
Other interests of mine are my garden, cooking and my Sphinx cats.

#Etna, #volcano, #volcanology, #eruption, #sicilia, #catania, #lapalma, #stromboli, #INGV, #stones, #minerals, #chemistry, #Vogelsberg, #chemistry, #C#, #C++, #VBA, #SQL, #perl, #java, #javascript, #sphinxcats

Short Update - Mt Etna, Sicily - 08.07.24

During the first few days of July, the Strombolian activity in Etna's Voragine summit crater continued to intensify and the tremor reached a high level. On 4 July, the activity increased to the emission of lava fountains, which generated a high eruption column. Ash fell on the south-east flank of Etna and also reached the city Catania. Activity in the Voragine ended in the early hours of 5 July.
On 6 July, mild Strombolian activity began again in the Voragine. During the night of 7 July, this increased to the release of lava fountains. The eruption column was bent to the east and there was rain of ash from Zafferana to Giarre. At the same time, a lava flow was emitted from the summit crater Bocca Nuova, which flowed down the Central Crater cone in a westerly direction. The paroxysm ended in the morning, but there were further ash emissions until the evening.

You can find more information on my website https://www.vulkan-etna-update.de (German language).

#Etna #volcano

Some pictures I took in the morning on the south flank at 1900 m...

Here some Pictures I took on 03 - 04/07/24 on Stromboli, where eruptive activity was unusualy high and generated ash clouds, ash rain on the villages and pyroclastic flows in to the ocean.

#stromboli #lava #volcano

Short Update - Mt Etna, Sicily - 21.06.24

Over the past few nights, sporadic glow was visible above Mt Etna's La Voragine, caused by mild strombolian activity in this summit crater. The activity started on 15 June on the inner crater wall of the intracrater cone formed during the 2019 eruptive activity. Videos taken by Michele Mammino show that the original single vent has expanded into a small fissure with several active openings.
Etna's other summit craters are still quiet, emitting only gas.
Volcanic tremor increased only slightly at the beginning of the eruption and is still relatively low.

You can find more information on my website https://www.vulkan-etna-update.de (German language).

#Etna #volcano

Video of the initial activity at Voragine by Michele Mammino :
https://youtu.be/vN2Q61DwUs0?si=5y2lHYqi5EcCsJYu

Short update - Mt Etna, Sicily - 14.04.24

On April 7, an explosive ash emission occurred at the summit crater Bocca Nuova. This caused a large area of the southern crater floor to collapse. After this event, the volcanic tremor dropped and continued to decrease and has now reached a low level.
The activity at the new vent of the Southeast Crater, which has been producing pulsating glow (Strombolian activity or emission of hot gas) and many gas rings since April 2, also decreased significantly after the explosion in the Bocca Nuova.
Today there were again isolated ash emissions from Bocca Nuova and from the new vent of the Southeast Crater.

You can find more information on my website https://www.vulkan-etna-update.de (German language).

#Etna #volcano

This INGV webcam photo taken from the upper south eastern flank of the mountain on the afternoon of April 7, shows the explosve ash emissin from the Bocca Nuova and gas rings from the Southeast Crater:

Short update - Mt Etna, Sicily - 04.04.24

After more than three months of quiet gas emissions, mild Strombolian activity began on Mt Etna on the evening of April 2. The small explosions occurred at a vent on the upper northern flank of the New South East Crater. On the day of April 3rd, many gas rings were produced by the vent. During the night of April 4th, the Strombolian activity was somewhat weaker again. The activity phase was accompanied by an increase in tremor.

You can find more information on my website https://www.vulkan-etna-update.de (German language).

#Etna #volcano

This INGV webcam photo taken from the eastern flank of the mountain on the evening of April 2, shows the strombolian activity as a small reddish spot:

Short update - Mt Etna, Sicily - 29.12.23

Two isolated explosions occurred at the South East Crater complex last week. A significant enlargement of the north-western pit was observed in Bocca Nuova. The tremor remained at a medium level.

You can find more information on my website https://www.vulkan-etna-update.de (German language).

#Etna #volcano

This INGV webcam photo shows the explosion at the Southeast Crater Complex, which occurred in the early hours of 23 December from an easterly direction. The eastern flank of the New Southeast Crater is covered with incandescent material and an ash cloud stands above the cone. The scene is almost outshone by the bright light of the setting moon: