EtnaUpdater @EtnaUpdater@qoto.org

Tourists (including me) climb Bocca Nuova (one of Etna's summit craters) in July 1979, after being taken by all-terrain vehicles to a car park at the base of the cone.
Just two months later, on 12 September 1979, a sudden explosion happened in the Bocca Nuova. Lava blocks were ejected, killing 9 tourists and injuring 22. This tragedy put an abrupt end to the mass tourism that had been practised there until then.

#throwbackthursday #etna #explosion #BoccaNuova #tourism

How about a revival of #VolcanoMonday in the Fediverse? I will start, of course with a photo of #Etna: the South East Crater from the south flank in June 2022.

#Etna update:

On 15 November 2022, Etna experienced a significant uplift in the summit area, which was accompanied by strong fluctuations of the tremor, as well as some weak earthquakes. However, there was no eruptive activity or other visible events.

In the past 14 days, gas emissions at Etna's summit craters continued to be concentrated at Bocca Nuova, where there was vigorous and pulse-like gas release.
At the Southeast Crater complex, some gas was persistently emitted from the breach or the central crater area. Some gas was also persistently emitted from the northern summit area of New Southeast Crater. A hot spot on the inner western crater wall of the breach was visible as a small glowing spot during the nights.
At Voragine and Northeast Crater, the webcams continued to show little significant gas release.

As reported by INGV, a significant change in the clinometric readings occurred in the early morning of 15 November. The first change occurred between 01:00 and 01:30 and the second between 03:50 and 04:30. In total, there was a change in the slope of almost one microradian, indicating an uplift that occurred in the area of the summit. At the same time, the DRUV station on Monte Ruvolo (western flank) showed significant variations in dilatometric data. No changes occurred after 05:00 [1].

The online seismograms of station ECNE were characterised by persistent noise during the phases of increased tremor, which wiped out most of the other signals. Otherwise, long-period signals appeared regularly.
The tremor decreased somewhat from 06/11 and then fluctuated at a medium level. On 14/11 there was a rapid increase to a high level, before the tremor temporarily dropped rapidly to a low level on 15/11. It then rose rapidly in the evening of this day, just reaching high level and staying there for a few hours. On 16/11 tremor declined with fluctuations and stabilised at a medium level [2].
In the evening of 15/11 the source of the tremor was located below Bocca Nuova at an altitude of about 3000 m [1].

On 07/11 two earthquakes occurred west of Bronte (northwest flank), reaching magnitudes of 1.7 and 1.9, respectively. On 12/11 a quake of magnitude 1.6 occurred in Piano Pernicana (northeast flank). On 12/11 a quake of magnitude 1.7 was registered southeast of Paternò (south west flank). On 15/11 several very weak (magnitude less than 1.5) quakes occurred in the area of the Southeast Crater complex. On 15th and 16th November two quakes occurred in Piano Pernicana with magnitudes of 1.5 and 2.0, respectively [3].

My interpretation of the data and speculations about the further development:
Probably a larger amount of magma temporarily rose on 15th November, as the clinometric data showed a rapid and significant change in the slope of the mountain flank in the early morning of that day. In addition, several weak earthquakes occurred simultaneously at the Southeast Crater complex. Afterwards, the tremor, which had been elevated for months before, dropped significantly. Since there was no eruptive activity, it can be assumed that the rising magma was stored inside the mountain. It probably spread along the rift zones. At least the Pernicana fault on the northeast flank reacted to the changes in the mountain with some weak earthquakes. It is therefore conceivable that the magma migrated north/northeast from the Southeast Crater complex towards the northeast rift zone. After a temporary strong and rapid increase of the tremor, it has levelled off again at a medium level. The situation has thus returned to normal since 16 November. It is quite possible that the event of 15 November is the prelude to further similar events. Therefore, in my opinion, the probability of the return of eruptive activity within the next few weeks, especially at the Southeast Crater complex, has increased significantly.

Sources:

1 - INGV-Sezione di Catania. 2022. Comunicati attività vulcanica. 15/11/2022 19:47 - COMUNICATO ETNA
2 - INGV-Sezione di Catania. 2022. Home. TREMORE VULCANICO. ECNE
3 - INGV. Osservatorio Etneo. Sorveglianza e Monitoraggio. DATABASE TERREMOTI. Localizzazioni di sala operativa. 2022.

#volcanology #volcanism #sicily #INGV

#Etna
Some weak earthquakes at shallow depths at the Southeast Crater complex last night. Then a sharp decrease in tremor amplitude. Now again a strong increase of the tremor. I wonder what the old lady is brewing up?

#volcano #volcanology

#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

- #Etna Update October 2022 -

Observations at the summit craters:
At Bocca Nuova, the powerful and pulsating gas emission continued in October. Deep-seated explosions accompanied by loud thunder also occurred frequent. However, no material was ejected. At the Southeast Crater complex, gas was continuously released from the central crater area (between the New and Old Southeast crater). Fractures along the upper southern flank of the cone persistently released some gas. Gas emission from fumaroles also occurred on the upper northern flank of the cone. A hot spot exists on the inner western crater wall, which is perceived as a glowing spot at night by means of light-sensitive webcams. Voragine and Northeast Crater are blocked and released little gas.

Geophisical parameters:
Seismic activity was low and concentrated on the northeast flank. The strongest quake had a magnitude of 2.4.
Volcanic tremor continued at medium levels in October and was localised below the central crater at 2500 - 3000 m altitude.
GPS measurements showed a continuation of the slow expansion of the volcanic edifice, with a slight increase in velocity.

Gas emissions:
Sulphur dioxide emissions at the summit craters were at a medium level in October.
Ground carbon dioxide emissions (ETNAGAS station) fluctuated on the limit between medium and low levels in October. They were lower than in September.
The concentration of Helium isotopes (3He/4He ratio) in the Etna area, determined on 13 October, was slightly higher than last month. The measured value reached a high level.

My interpretation of the data and speculations about the further development:
The inflation of the volcanic edifice continued in October and even accelerated somewhat. Presumably, magma continues to rise beneath the mountain and migrate at depth along the various rift systems. This process is slowly pushing Etna's eastern flank further east. The slight increase in the helium isotope 3He indicates that more fresh magma rose again in October. In contrast, carbon dioxide emissions decreased. Seismicity also remained low. From these data, I conclude that new eruptive activity is not imminent. In a few months, however, there could be renewed Strombolian activity. This is probably most likely to occur at the Southeast Crater complex or in Bocca Nuova.

Source:
- Own observations via webcams.
- INGV-Sezione di Catania. 2022. Etna - BOLLETTINO MENSILE MESE DI RIFERIMENTO OTTOBRE 2022