Today, the Southeast Crater (SEC) is called by everyone “the beast”, or “the black beast”, because it has effectively become one of the most impressive craters on the summit of Etna. For those who saw it born in 1971, however, it still remains “the little one”, “the child of Etna”. Yet the rapid and unexpected evolution –  still in progress – of this crater makes us understand how unique this volcano is, which brings together almost all the eruptive phenomena in the world!

Southeast: history of a phenomenon

On May 14, 1971, at the end of intense seismic and eruptive activity that had affected the summit of the volcano for weeks, a lateral collapse created a collapse of the ground and therefore a pit crater.

The fissure, located at about 3000 meters above sea level, initially seemed to be just one of the many phenomena of that crisis destined to end with it. But shortly after, that “pit” began to unleash hell! The Strombolian eruptions produced by this new crater continued for a full month and went on and on, intermittently, in the following years. From 1978 onwards, the activity of the new crater, renamed in the meantime Southeast, became constant and continuous, giving the certainty that a new lasting summit opening had just been born. In the period 1979-1980 the Southeast Crater produced very high lava fountains and even volcanic lightning!

Between the 1990s and 2000s, the Southeast evolved and even split in two. From its “bowels” the New Southeast Crater (NSEC) was born, which soon surpassed its bigger brother, then was reabsorbed, then created a third crater between the two openings (Sella Crater), which was also reabsorbed. A continuous and plastic movement that reflects, on a small scale, the very high dynamism of the whole of Etna!

The Southeast competing for the record

The growth of the Southeast crater challenges the ancient history of the summit of Etna. The highest peak of the volcano, the Northeast crater, was surpassed in 2021 by the “little one” of the house which reached 3357 meters and maintained the record until 2024. In that year, after a series of spectacular eruptions, the Voragine crater actually touched 3400 meters reopening the battle for the record.

Between 2024 and 2025, the Southeast will once again take center stage and challenge the Voragine and its height. To date, the record still belongs to the largest crater that has reached 3,403 meters. But the Southeast has recently resumed its explosive activity and who knows, maybe things will change further… .

In this work of growth and evolution, however, the young crater continues to transform and it does so also through collapses and landslides and new fractures. We do not yet know, therefore, if the SEC will be able to regain the record in the coming years, but it will certainly change again and again. And we will be in the front row to admire the change.

How the crater has changed

Today, the Southeast crater is unrecognizable. It maintains its enormous dark mass at the foot of the historic summit craters but has changed shape. The summit appears split into three points, the result of the serious collapses that occurred during the latest eruptions, and other parts of the crater body are cracked, leaving one to imagine new landslides in the future. On top of all this, the new lava fountains are building a totally different structure.

One never tires of admiring the “becoming” of the SEC and of studying, through its movements, also the unique and original way of transformation of the highest and most beautiful volcano in Europe: Etna. (Photos by G Musumeci)