What caused the massive eruption of italy’s Mount Etna | Explained News

Where is Mount Etna?

Mount Etna, sometimes referred to simply as Etna, is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, lying just off the toe of the Italian “boot”. Etna’s peak is the highest in Italy south of the Alps, and it is the largest of Europe’s active volcanoes.

Etna’s summit has five craters, which are responsible for most of the volcano’s eruptions. “Flank” eruptions also occur at the 300-odd vents of varying sizes along the slopes of the mountain.

The volcano is in near-constant activity. Since 1600, at least 60 flank eruptions and many more summit eruptions have happened. In recent years, summit eruptions have occurred in 2006, 2007-08, on two occasions in 2012, in 2018, and 2021; flank eruptions have taken place in 2001, 2002-03, 2004-05, and 2008-09.

Etna has been a World Heritage Site since 2013, and according to UNESCO, the volcano’s eruptive history can be traced back 500,000 years. At least 2,700 years of this activity have been documented.

What kind of eruption did it have?

Experts suggest that the eruption began with an increase in pressure inside the volcano due to expanding gases, which led to the collapse of the southeast crater, resulting in hot lava flows.

According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) Etna Observatory, the volcano was witnessing a “Strombolian” eruption.

This type of eruption is usually characterised as discreet moderately explosive bursts which can eject chunks of rock and cinders that can travel hundreds of metres into the air. It occurs due to the presence of gas in the magma chamber within the volcano.

“When the gas bubbles reach the surface, they can burst suddenly, throwing material skywards. The process is not dissimilar to letting gas out of a fizzy drink,” according to a report by the BBC.

The Strombolian eruption is named after another Italian volcano called Stromboli, which produces minor eruptions every 10 to 20 minutes.

However, some volcanologists believe that Mount Etna did not experience a Strombolian eruption but rather a Plinian eruption, in which hot gas, ash, and rock can explode high enough to reach the stratosphere. Given that the Monday eruption produced by Mount Etna threw material several kilometres into the sky, this set of volcanologists say it was a Plinian eruption.

Scientists typically classify eruptions based on how explosive they are. More explosive eruptions tend to be more dangerous, as they can cover a larger area and move faster.