Since September it is official, also supported by data collected “on the field”: Crater Voragine (CVOR) is now the highest peak of Mount Etna having reached 3,403 meters above sea level. A record growth that this crater obtained through a series of incredible paroxysms, spectacular and violent as typical of this vent. Its tip has just “looked out” on the eastern side, effectively surpassing both the young and dynamic South East Crater and the North East, which had held the height record for years.

History of the Voragine

This crater is called Voragine (Chasm) precisely because it was identified as a chasm, due to the sudden sinking of part of the former Central Crater. It was October 1945 and volcanologists immediately understood that it was not just any “hole”. The depth of the conduit and the vivacity of the magma that rose up there clearly gave the sign of a new large crater. In the space of a few years, in fact, the “hole” became a gigantic opening. So large that every time it degassed or exploded, the roars could be heard in much part of Sicily! The Crater Voragine rarely erupts, but when it does, it offers unique spectacles. It was like this recently: in 1999, in 2013, in 2021 and finally in 2024.

Spectacular eruptions

In the summer of 2024, after a brief turbulent period marked by strong degassing and spectacular “steam rings” in the sky, the Voragine started several paroxysms that marked the Catania summer. Roars, columns of ash, and lava fountains of considerable heights released so much material that even the nearby craters were buried (the Central disappeared, the Bocca Nuova was buried and so was in part the North East, too). The result is a huge conical structure that, as volcanologists have verified, has allowed Etna to exceed 3,400 meters in height.

The future of the Voragine

What future is expected for this new dominant crater? Currently it appears calm, while the North East, which seemed “on strike” for years, suddenly boils… a sign that Etna always plays to surprise. But the Voragine is there, very high, powerful and active. It could increase its height even further, a dangerous game that in the past already led to the collapse of parts of the volcano. Or it could stop for a few years and wait for “the role play” with the neighbouring craters to start again … some of them trying to beat the current record. In all this, scientists from the INGV institute of Catania are carefully studying the phenomenon and residents and tourists are waiting confidently, cameras in hand, to see what new surprise the future will bring. (PHOTOS BY GRAZIA MUSUMECI)