Eruption Archives

The mysterious paroxysm of 2021

Posted on 31/03/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

Year 2021 was one of the “busiest years” on Mount Etna in terms of eruptions. A crisis that began in 2020 led Sicily’s great volcano to erupt at an impressive rate for the next 20 months. So, what could be so “mysterious” in a paroxysm of 2021, that is in just one of the many […]

Volcanic “bombs”, what and where are they

Posted on 10/03/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

Volcanic bombs are shreds, “drops”, of incandescent lava that are expelled from the mouth of a volcano, even many kilometers away. They can have different dimensions, ranging from a few tens of centimeters up to many meters. In order to be defined as “bombs” the diameter must always be greater than 64 cm, otherwise they […]

Mt Etna’s winter place 2: Ripe della Naca

Posted on 07/01/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

The location called “le Ripe della Naca” (the ropes of the cradle), on the eastern side of Mount Etna, is always suggestive and fascinating, in every season. But seeing and experiencing it in winter, possibly with snow, is an emotional experience you won’t easily forget. These “ropes” are actually enormous “waterfalls of lava” that poured […]

What if Bocca Nuova Crater erupted… ?

Posted on 30/12/2023 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

It’s been having fun for months now, creating its amazing gas rings calmly and happily… the Bocca Nuova Crater has been trying to get noticed for a while. Not that it needs it, given that it is one of Mount Etna’s oldest and largest “vents”. But it’s as if it wants to remind everyone that […]

Lava fountains and explosions, is there a difference?

Posted on 11/12/2023 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

Mount Etna is a wonderful sight that everyone would like to admire, one time or another. It is not the classic volcano that produces long lava flows – except in rare cases – but it expresses the characteristics of many volcanoes all together. The volcanologists of Catania say they are “lucky” to have such an […]