This past Christmas was a “fire Christmas” on Mount Etna. The volcano, in fact, unleashed an eruptive spectacle reserved for a “few intimates” due to the bad weather that struck the Catania area during the holidays. Only web cameras and a few guides were able to witness the show of summit lava fountains… the rest of the inhabitants of the Ionian coast barely managed to admire the red glow of the lava behind the clouds. And the small lava flow that erupted late in the evening of the 26th. But the Christmas 2025 eruption wasn’t just another Etna eruption…

The Return of the North East Crater

This time, in fact, it was the NEC (North East Crater) that triggered the eruption. The old giant, once Etna’s highest peak (now surpassed by the Voragine), seemed determined to retire forever. It hadn’t roared for about thirty years! As Dr. Boris Behncke, a volcanologist from Catania, wrote on his social media: “This old man NEC has produced a few lava fountains, real lava fountains, a paroxysm, its first in almost 28 years (…) I liked to say, “The North East isn’t capable of paroxysms anymore,” just to tease it. Meanwhile, its smaller brother, the South East, has had more than 100 paroxysms in the last 15 years alone, the Voragine has also been busy, and even the Bocca Nuova has managed to have some. (…) One of the last paroxysms of the North East occurred on the night of 27-28 March 1998. Since then, there have been several phases of intra-crater Strombolian activity, particularly in the summer of 2002 (prelude to the 2002-2003 eruption), in May 2016 (shortly before a series of paroxysms at nearby Voragine), in 2018-2019 and in 2020-2021. Finally, the North East showed explosive activity during and after the series of paroxysms at Voragine in July-August 2024.”

In detail, the INGV website described the new eruptive activity very well, reminding everyone that the North East still exists and wants to play a leading role.

Eruptive History of the NEC

Formed in 1911 at the northeastern base of the then single Central Crater (the one that housed the Central Crater), the North East had its first major eruption in June 1917. Its activity was quite lively between the 1930s and 1940s, then intensifying between 1950 and the 1970s. It was at the end of this cycle that the North East reached its maximum height, becoming the volcano’s highest peak and holding the record until 2024.

What characterizes the North East is its “burst paroxysm”. That is, once its eruptive activity begins, it repeats for months and months. In fact, Etna now behaves this way every time a new eruptive phase begins, but it seems that the “inventor” of this type of paroxysm is exactly it … “grandpa NEC.”

The North East erupted sporadically between 1981 and 1998, then indulged in a very long pause. That pause has now ended, it seems.

The show yet to come

We’ll find out in the coming days whether the North East is still the “good old North East.” Will it give us another series of “burst paroxysms” or has it changed style? One thing is certain, the tremor is still high, and the Voragine and the Southeast appear to be involved as well. We could therefore soon witness quite a few spectacular eruptive episodes. Get your popcorn ready and cross your fingers! (PHOTOS BY G. MUSUMECI)